Recipe no. 303 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 148.
Ingredients
- fattened hen
- bacon
- onion
- carrot
- bay leaf
- thyme
- white wine
- broth
- water
- quenelles
- foie gras
- chicken livers
- butter
- mushrooms
- truffles
- cockscombs
- kidneys
- flour
- egg yolks
- cream
- lemon
Preparation
- Trussing and garnishingTruss the hen as for an entree, put strips of bacon, rounds of onion and carrot, bay leaf and thyme at the bottom of the saucepan
- Sweating gentlyCover and cook gently, turning regularly, season
- DeglazingWhen quite firm and the bottom begins to catch, moisten with white wine, let reduce
- Finishing the cookingAdd broth and water, cook over a very low heat
- Preparing the garnishPrepare quenelles, escalopes of foie gras or chicken livers, mushrooms, sliced truffles, cockscombs and kidneys
- Making the sauceMake a light roux with butter and flour, moisten with broth and the bird's pan juices, bring to a boil, bind with egg yolks, cream and lemon juice
- Garnishing and dressingMix the garnish into the sauce, arrange the hen in the middle of the dish with the garnish around, pour the reduced juices over
Reboul's text
Truss a fattened hen as for an entree, place it in a saucepan at the bottom of which you have put a few strips of bacon, rounds of onion and carrot, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme; cover the saucepan and let it sweat over a low heat, turning the bird from time to time, season.
When it is quite firm and the bottom begins to catch, moisten with a glass of white wine, cover the saucepan and let it reduce, turning the bird from time to time.
Then add a ladleful of broth and as much water and let it finish cooking over a very low heat.
Meanwhile prepare a few ordinary quenelles, a few escalopes of foie gras, or failing that a few chicken livers lightly cooked in butter, mushroom caps, as many sliced truffles, a few cockscombs and kidneys.
Put a piece of butter the size of an egg and a spoonful of flour into a saucepan, stir a moment over the heat without letting it colour, moisten with half broth and half the bird's pan juices; bring to a boil, bind with 2 egg yolks diluted with a spoonful of cream and the juice of a lemon, put the prepared garnish into this sauce.
Arrange the fattened hen in the middle of the dish with the garnish all around, pour over it the remainder of the hen's juices, strained and reduced to a glaze.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| poulardo | fattened hen |
| brida | truss |
| lard | bacon |
| laurié | bay leaf |
| farigoulo | thyme |
| vin | white wine |
| raviolo | quenelles |
| fege | foie gras |
| champignoun | mushrooms |
| rabas | truffles |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 303, page 148. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.