A recent inventory of my freezer revealed a significant number of chicken livers, the result of my inability to waste anything that can be later turned into something yummy!  To explain, each time I buy a whole chicken, the carcass, heart and gizzards all go into stock.  Chicken livers, on the other hand, are no good for stock, as they will make it bitter and cloudy.  So I save them up, tightly wrapped, in the freezer, until I have enough to make chicken liver mousse, a favorite around here.

This is not so much a recipe as a general discussion, as chicken liver mousse adapts well to improvisation and ingredient substitutions.

A bubbly warm chicken pot pie is a perfect dish for a frosty December lunch.  It is also a perfect use for the hindquarters of a older farm chicken, which are pretty firm (not to say tough) and require long cooking.  I poached the legs and thighs in chicken stock with aromatics, then used that broth to make a savory gravy enriched with heavy cream and rosemary. For veggies, December offers a range of root vegetables, squashes, alliums and mushrooms that go very well with chicken. I used champignons de Paris, whole baby shallots and roasted red kuri squash, all poached int he same chicken broth before making the gravy, each adding its distinct flavor.

For pastry, I used the same dough recipe that is used at Le Pichet for its famous quiche, buttery and flakey.  Yum

Paula Wolfert called this dish “one of the great combinations of Moroccan cookery”, and its hard to argue with her.  Its a very satisfying dish indeed, especially when made with the legs of older, free-range farm chickens, full of flavor.  And be sure to use lemons you have preserved yourself (see my recipe for preserved lemons here). This is also the perfect dish to cook in an earthenware tagine dish.  The very slow cooking, combined with the tagine’s ability to circulate the steaming juices, yields chicken that is completely tender and almost silken in its wonderful moist texture.

Credit where due, this recipe is based on the one Wolfert gives in her book “Couscous and other good food from Morrocco”.

One of the difficulties of translating French recipes for the American kitchen is that many of the ingredients are just not the same in France as in America. This difference in ingredients can often mean that getting good results using a French recipe can require a lot of modifications in measurements, timing and techniques.

Take, for example, one of the most basic ingredients, the chicken. In America, when you think of chicken, you think of a round bird with very little fat,  breast meat that represents a significant portion of the overall weight, mild tasting meat in the legs and a skin that is wet and white. This sort of bird has very little to do with a good French farm chicken. Sure it is the same animal, but through breeding, diet and farm practices, American chickens have diverged from their European cousins in ways that are significant enough that they just can’t be cooked the same way.  In my experience, this US/France difference applies also to American farm -raised chickens that are more similar to US intensively raised chickens then to French chickens.

Take a look at the photo a organically raised, free range French farm chicken above. First thing you notice is that the breast is much smaller and the legs are bigger than an American bird. Americans love breast meat, so American chickens have been bred to maximize it.  The leg meat is also very dark compared to an American chicken, almost like duck or turkey legs.  Bigger breast and smaller legs in an American chicken means that roasting time is mostly tied to making sure that the breast is cooked through, whereas with a French chicken, the main concern is that the legs cook slowly and thoroughly so that they will have time to become tender.

Next, you notice that the skin is not white and wet like an American chicken, but yellow,  dry and almost tacky.  The first is the result of diet, which for a French farm bird consists of insects and the parings from the kitchen, supplemented by grain, in the SW of France, that means mostly corn.  This diet also yields a significant amount of yellow fat both under the skin and in the cavity and a significant yellow pigmentation in to the skin. In the past, I have read recipes (especially in traditional Jewish cookbooks) that make reference to using the rendered fat from a chicken. This always struck me as strange, as the typical American chicken has so little fat, that rendering is not possible.  However,  with French farm chickens, this made a lot more sense;  one good sized chicken can yield more than a cup of rendered fat, which is as prized in cooking as duck fat. (PS to render chicken fat, toss all the fatty scraps into a sauce pan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then continue cooking until all the water has boiled away and the remaining bits begin to brown. Strain and cool, store covered in the fridge, use like you would duck fat).

I guess the main difference between a French chicken and chickens in America is the flavor, which is much more “chicken-y” and meaty, not like game exactly but going in that direction.  We Americans have a tendency to describe any mild white meat as tasting “like chicken” which I think says more about chicken than about other meats…we expect chicken to be pretty neutrally flavored.  The stronger flavor and firmer texture of French chickens really shine in traditional recipes, especially those that are braised, simmered or stewed.  Its like a whole different animal.

One of the trademark dishes that we served at Le Pichet (and still do!) and Cafe Presse was our whole roasted chicken for two.  When I set out to add this to the menu, the main problem that I faced was how to adapt the traditional French way of roasting a chicken to our birds.  The French way to roast a chicken is in a medium oven, say 350 degrees, first on one side, then on the other, and finally on the breast, for a total cooking time of about 1.5 hours. After many trials, I discovered that fatter, more tender American chickens are actually better roasted at 500 degrees for a fairly short time, which allowed us to cook your chickens to order in 1 hour (a happy bi-product!).  Neither method is better than the other, just more adapted to the local chickens.

So the take-away is:  Don’t be surprised if French recipes for chicken dishes need to be adapted for the American kitchen. When making Coq au Vin, simmering an American chicken for hours, as many French recipes recommend, will simply yield dry, sad chicken.

New summer preparation at Le Pichet for our famous whole roasted Washington State free-range chicken for two, served with saffron rice pilaf and eggplant and summer squash sauteed with cumin.

Menu for two – $66

Rillettes de truite saumonée et sa salade aux choux
Rillettes of poached and smoked wild caught steelhead trout, served with crispy baguette slices and a salad of Napa cabbage, escarole, tarragon, satsumas and herb-champagne vinaigrette
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Poulet rôti, pommes frites et mayonnaise
Whole NW natural free-range chicken, roasted to your order, with pommes frites and mayonnaise
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Tarte Bourdaloue aux poires et aux amandes
Rustic tartelett for two  filled with red wine poached pears and almond cream, served with vanilla crème anglais

       Add a bottle of sparking wine:                                                          $19.25                          Domaine d’Orfeuilles Brut Rosé Touraine NV

       Add a 10-piece bag of our salted-butter caramels:                    $7.00
       Made with local organic honey and sweet butter, individually wrapped

       Add a 12-piece bag of our chocolate ganache truffles               $15.00
       Dark chocolate ganache scented Port wine

Special dinner available for take-out only. Not available through for delivery
Pre-order required.   Please call Cafe Presse at 206.709.7674  before 6pm on February 13 to pre-order. Your dinner will be ready for pickup at the time you choose between 5pm and 10pm on February 14th

Ring in 2019 chez vous, away from the crowds
Choose dinner only or add a bottle of sparkling wine
Includes party hats, noisemakers and confetti!

Special Take-Home Menu for two:   $60.00
Menu with a bottle Sparking Wine:  $78.00
(Martinolles Blanquette de Limoux NV sparkling)

Available for Take-out only.  Not available through any home delivery service.
Pre-Order required

Order at  206.709.7674 before 4pm on Sunday December 30th.
Your dinner will be ready to pick up at the time you choose
between 5pm and 10pm on New Year’s Eve.

Menu for Two

Sardines grillées, salade aux endives et aux oranges sanguines
Grilled Spanish sardines, salade of Belgian endive, frilly red mustard greens, blood orange supremes, candied peel and blood orange vinaigrette
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Poulet rôti, pommes frites et mayonnaise
Whole Washington State free-range chicken, roasted to your order, with pommes frites and mayonnaise
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Truffes au chocolat faites maison
A 6 piece selection of our house-made chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa:
includes Chocolate-Grand Marnier, Chocolate-Chèvre, and Chocolate-Espresso

Last week, chef de cuisine Dave Cooper introduced 3 new summer dishes to the menu at Le Pichet. Hope you will enjoy these photos.