Flashback and Foodie Friday ~Happy Birthday Julia

In honor of Julia Child's birthday which is tomorrow August 15th I flashback to 2008 when a group of my online buddies and I had a Chicken Cook-off. Several of them had purchased really cute chicken shaped roasters by Revol, so roasted chicken was somewhat of a theme although there were surprises in those roasters :-) I had never roasted a chicken before...shocking I know! So I was a bit nervous...how do you know when it's done? I had recently come into possession of an old copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and I figured if anyone could teach me how to roast a chicken it would be Julia. I selected Poulet Roti a la Normande. Julia suggested stuffing the bird and I did but not with the stuffing in the book. The roasting directions I did follow with the exception of adding a bit more seasoning to the bird itself..she only calls for salt. I had seen a beautifully browned bird not long before that had been seasoned with paprika, so I added that as well and slathered the chicken in side and out with the mixture along with a little more than the 1 Tablespoon of butter called for. The clincher to the "a la Normande" part is the fact that in the last 10 minutes of cooking you baste the chicken with heavy cream, then use the cream infused drippings to make a sauce. The result was a delicious crispy skinned beautifully browned chicken! I couldn't believe how easy it was to make something so pretty and flavorful. Julia knew what she was doing!



Poulet Roti a la Normande

Ingredients
3 lb. roasting chicken
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter

Herb and Giblet Stuffing:
1 chicken gizzard, peeled and minced
1 tbsp. butter
1/8 tsp. oil
1 chicken heart, chopped
1 to 4 chicken livers, chopped
1 tbsp. minced shallots or green onions
2/3 cup coarse breadcrumbs
4 tbsp. cream cheese
2 tbsp. softened butter
3 tbsp. minced parsely
1/8 tsp. tarragon or thyme
1/8 tsp. salt
1 pinch pepper

Roasting:
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp. salt

Sauce:
3 tbsp. strong brown chicken stock or 3 tbsp. canned beef bouillon
3 to 4 tbsp. whipping cream
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice, to taste

First, prepare the stuffing. Saute the gizzard in hot butter and oil for 2 minutes. Then stir in the heart, liver and shallots or onions. Saute for 2 minutes more, or until the liver has stiffened but is still rosy inside. Scrape into a mixing bowl.

Blend in the rest of the ingredients and taste carefully for seasoning. Let stuffing cool.

Sprinkly salt inside the chicken, and loosely fill with the stuffing. Sew or skewer the vent. Truss and dry the chicken, and rub its skin with butter.

Roast the chicken in a preheated 350°F oven for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. After roasting 1 hour, remove all but 1 spoonful of fat from the pan. Baste chicken with 2 to 3 tbsp. whipping cream every 3 to 4 minutes until the chicken is done. The cream will probably look curdled in the pan, but this will be corrected later.

Remove the chicken to a hot platter and sprinkle with salt.

Add the stock or bouillon to the cream in the roasting pan and boil rapidly for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping up coagulated chicken roasting juices.

Just before serving, remove from heat and stir in additional cream by spoonfuls to smooth out the sauce. Correct seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste.

Spoon a bit of sauce over the chicken and send the rest to the table in a warmed sauceboat.

I served it with the stuffing, new roasted potatoes, carrots and the delicious sauce.



We also had stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer




and Cupcakes with a Heart in the Middle for dessert


There aren't any garden photos from the day because I think it was still pretty chilly...



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I'm also participating in Foodie Friday...go check out all of the aweseome posts at Designs by Gollum