BON APPÉTIT
ANNE DESJARDINS
BRAND X PIC TURES
cut parts is often quicker and more practical.)
In addition, I must not only point out, but
highlight the biggest reason chicken figures
so prominently in menus is its taste—
delicate, tender, with a skin that becomes melting
and crispy when cooked.
I would like to share this recipe with you
from the heady days at the beginning of my
restaurant. It appears on the menu at certain
times of the year, adapted to the season, and
is always a guaranteed success! C
Anne Desjardins is the award-winning chef
and owner of L’Eau à la Bouche, a hotel-restaurant located in Sainte-Adèle, Québec.
The most popular of poultry
is also one of the most versatile
By Anne Desjardins
Ilove poultry, I love to ers, it doesn’t inspire me at all!
cook it and I love to All this goes to show that
share my ways of doing the family of edible birds is
so. As a chef, I’ve had large, yet we must recognize
the opportunity to cook the importance of the one we
up many different members of eat most often, the chicken.
the extensive poultry family. Although chicken is one
The large, generous turkey is of those foods that bring back
easy to prepare, appetizing memories, usually good ones,
and delicious when it’s per- too often the good old chicken
fectly roasted, and totally is something we look down
appropriate for a family din- on as too familiar, even ordi-ner at Christmas. Delicate nary.
quail and guinea fowl enhance an elegant and But once upon a time, roasted chicken
sophisticated supper. And last but not least are was on the menu for Sunday dinner, syn-pheasants and geese, which are associated onymous with celebration and abundance.
with hunting because they’re more closely Its fragrance wafting throughout the home
related to game birds than to domestic fowl. made mouths water.
JEAN-FRANÇOIS BÉRUBÉ
For the past few years, I have been crazy I believe that chicken is still so popular
about small farmer’s pigeons, with their tasty because of its characteristics: It is easy to
red meat so similar to Barbary Coast, Mulard raise and requires only a few weeks to
and Peking duck. These little birds have mature, anditisavailableyear-round.
prompted chefs on this side of the Atlantic to Chicken is high in protein and very afford-rediscover an array of savoury recipes such as able. It’s easy to find precut parts (deboned
foie gras, duck confit and duck cutlet. breasts, thighs, wings) ready to quickly incor-However, eventhoughostrichhasstartedtobe porate into a recipe. (I prefer to buy my
raised by the more adventurous poultry farm- chicken whole, but I recognize that using pre-
This recipe is sweet yet tangy, with the
cider vinegar, peppercorns and tart fruit
working together to balance it and to prevent
the cream from making it bland. It is very
easy to prepare in a jiffy and never fails!
Salt
6 chicken breasts
(you can substitute thighs)
15 mL ( 1 Tbsp.) butter
15 mL ( 1 Tbsp.) olive oil
1 shallot, minced
5 mL ( 1 tsp.) green peppercorns
1 apple (such as an Empire),
peeled and diced
30 mL (2 Tbsp.) dried cranberries
45 mL ( 3 Tbsp.)
unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
250 mL ( 1 cup) chicken or
poultry bouillon
75 mL (1/3 cup) 35 per cent cream
Salt the chicken breasts thoroughly. On
medium heat, melt the butter and the oil in
a heavy pan, then add chicken breasts and
cook 2 minutes on each side before taking
them out and setting them aside.
In the same pan, add the shallot, peppercorns, apple and cranberries, and cook
for 1 minute, then add the vinegar, bouillon
and cream, and mix well.
Add the chicken breasts, cover and
lower the heat to a simmer, turning chicken
once during the cooking, which should take
around 15 minutes, depending on thickness. The sauce will be smooth; all that’s
left to do is taste it and adjust the seasoning
if necessary. Serves 6.
