A Normandy chicken dish in Tuscany

And an early spring menu

This is one of the recipes I wrote about for my monthly Cook Corriere column recently where I pluck (seemingly) random recipes out of old cookbooks that I collect in (equally) random places. This was a good find, at Shakespeare and Co in Paris, where good vintage cookbooks are a fairly unusual find, I’m told: an English first edition of Escoffier’s Ma Cuisine, a collection of 2000 recipes (!), including the famous “mother sauces,” Peach Melba and Le Poire Helen. And it has a foreword by the prolific French food and wine writer (he has over 100 books to his name), André Simon, no less.

This was one of those wherever-the-page-opens-situations — and my eye landed on Normandy style chicken. Immediately, I loved the short list of ingredients, the short method — in fact I’ve made it now several times and every time I’m amazed at how simple and straightforward it is.

I actually had time to made this dish one night in the middle of my Australian book tour, which if you followed it you’ll know was a whirlwind of events and travel every day for 21 days and I’ve since made it when I’ve had more time, for pleasure, I can honestly say it’s so quick to put together. I appreciate that there is not a lot of “active” cooking involved; it just does its thing, under a lid, the flavours mingling and turning into something very luscious and comforting. It’s rather perfect for just a quiet night in (the leftovers are amazing!) but also would be a crowd pleaser for a big lunch — in fact we have just made it again for a private spring lunch in the Enoteca.

This early spring menu looked like this:

• Ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers

• Crespelle with carciofi (here’s a similar recipe but with borage and ricotta)

• Normandy chicken (recipe below!)

• Puntarelle with anchovies and garlic dressing

• Asparagus with pine nuts and browned butter

• Flourless chocolate cake with zabaione

The thing that makes this chicken dish “Normandy style” is the addition of Calvados, a brandy distilled from apple cider and it can be produced only in Normandy (under AOC regulations). A young Calvados will have a stronger apple or pear flavour, which is ideal for this. If you don’t have it or can’t get it, try a nice apple juice or apple cider, or even just fresh apple slices (which I tried and LOVED). Escoffier actually suggests another version where there are no mushrooms but instead an apple compote is added, along with cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon juice. I’ve added whole baby onions to this too, which become melt in the mouth in this dish. They’re optional but really fantastic if you have them.

Poulet Sauté à la normande (Normandy style chicken)

• 1 whole chicken (Escoffier calls for a spring chicken), chopped into 6-8 pieces

• 50 gr butter

• 1-2 apples (Reinette ideally or another tart, firm apple), cored and sliced, optional

• 60 ml Calvados (or apple cider or juice)

• 2 garlic cloves (or a bit of onion), finely chopped

• 250 gr mushrooms or whole baby onions (or both!)

• 300 ml cream

• 3 tablespoons meat stock

• Fresh herbs such as parsley or thyme, finely chopped

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat and brown the pieces of chicken on all sides (about 10-15 minutes). I also wanted to brown the apple slices so I took the chicken out at this point and did the same with the apple, then removed them for later and put the chicken back in. If this sounds like a bit of unnecessary faff then you can always add the apples later with the mushrooms.

Immediately add the Calvados, which should simultaneously bring up any of the wonderful browning bits from the bottom of the pan and also stop the chicken from browning any further. Allow the liquid to reduce for another 5 minutes, then add the garlic and mushrooms (or onions), followed by the cream and stock. Cover and lower the heat to low-medium and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 20 minutes (I used a proper chicken, or a pollo ruspante as they call them here, it was rather on the skinny side with thick skin and these need a little less than plumper chickens, which may need 25-30 minutes).

Taste and adjust for seasoning, then scatter over the fresh herbs (went with chives this time) and enjoy with crusty bread to soak up all the wonderful sauce.

Some tips if preparing this for a big lunch — make this in advance and simply heat it up just before you need to serve it, adding the fresh herbs right before it goes to the table. If serving a really large crowd (I doubled this recipe for 8 and we had leftovers) this also heats up well in the oven.

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Workshop and class info:

This year I’m launching a pasta masterclass at Enoteca Marilu and the first one will be this Easter on 28 March! There will be plenty of artichokes and Easter treats! See the full calendar here.

One room (a double or single) has suddenly opened up for my Spring Harvest workshop at Anna Tasca Lanza in Sicily! For more info see here.

Our own workshops at Enoteca Marilu are fully booked this season except for 1 spot left in November’s white truffle workshop - let us know if you’re interested in joining us!T

This June, I’ll be at Cala Molinella in the beautiful Gargano peninsula in Puglia for a cooking workshop — keep your eyes peeled for more on this next week!