Emily Carter
Julia Child was an American chef, cookbook author, and television personality known for her French cuisine. Her approachable, humorous personality and clear explanations of French cooking techniques made her a beloved figure in the culinary world. One of her famous chicken recipes is the Coq au Vin, or chicken in red wine. This recipe showcases Julia Child's unique style of combining historic French recipes with brisk and lucid American writing and explanation. It calls for a cut-up chicken, typically weighing about 3 pounds, with a mix of thighs and drumsticks. The chicken is browned and simmered in a delicious sauce made with white wine, chicken broth, and heavy cream, among other ingredients. Another one of her well-known chicken recipes is the Poulet Poêlé à l’Estragon, or Casserole-Roasted Chicken with Tarragon, which involves roasting a chicken seasoned with tarragon and other herbs.
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What You'll Learn
Seasoning and stuffing the chicken
Next, rub the chicken skin with butter and sprinkle it with salt. If desired, you can remove the wishbone and pull the neck skin over the chicken breast, securing it to the back with a toothpick.
Trussing the chicken is an essential step in the French cooking style, as it promotes even cooking. After trussing, dry the chicken thoroughly.
For an extra touch of flavor, you can also season the chicken with tarragon. Insert fresh tarragon leaves into the cavity, or sprinkle in dried tarragon.
Remember to wash all surfaces and utensils that have come into contact with raw chicken to ensure food safety.
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Trussing the chicken
Trussing a chicken is an important step in the cooking process, as it helps the bird cook evenly. Here is a step-by-step guide to trussing a chicken, inspired by Julia Child's famous roast chicken recipe:
Start by seasoning the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper. You can also add other seasonings or herbs to the cavity at this point, such as parsley stems, celery leaves, or lemon slices, as suggested by Julia Child.
Next, using kitchen twine, tie the chicken's legs together at the ankles. Then, bring the twine up and around the chicken's body, just below the wings. Cross the twine over the breast of the chicken and pull it taut, so the wings are held snugly against the body. Bring the twine back down and tie it off securely around the legs again.
For a larger chicken, you may need to use a longer piece of twine and wrap it around the bird a second time to ensure it is securely trussed. Make sure the twine is tight enough to hold the bird together during cooking, but not so tight that it cuts into the meat.
Finally, once the chicken is cooked, remember to remove the twine before carving. You can do this by simply cutting the twine with a sharp knife or kitchen shears.
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Roasting the chicken
To roast a chicken à la Julia Child, you'll first want to season the bird inside and out. Pack the cavity with sautéed vegetables, lemon slices, and fresh herbs. Then, rub the skin with butter and sprinkle it with salt. Truss the chicken to promote even cooking.
Next, place the chicken breast-side up on a rack inside a flameproof roasting pan that is about 1 inch larger than the chicken. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roast the chicken for 15 minutes, then brush it with melted butter and scatter sliced onion and carrot around the pan.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and roast for another 45 minutes. Brush the lemon juice over the chicken, and add 1/2 cup of water to the vegetables if they start to burn.
Roast for another hour, basting the chicken with pan juices. Check if the chicken is done—the drumsticks should move easily in their sockets, and the flesh should feel somewhat soft. If not, continue roasting and basting, checking every 7 to 8 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer reaches 165°F.
Once the chicken is done, let it rest on a carving board for 15 minutes. Remove the trussing string and spoon out all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan juices. Add chicken stock to the pan and boil until syrupy. This fragrant sauce can be drizzled over each serving.
For a tarragon-infused variation, season the cavity with salt, pepper, and butter, and insert tarragon leaves or sprinkle in dried tarragon. Truss the chicken, dry it thoroughly, and rub the skin with butter. Preheat the oven to 325°F and roast for 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes for a 3-pound bird.
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Making the sauce
Julia Child's recipes often involve making a sauce to accompany the chicken. Here are some of her sauce-making techniques:
For her Poulet Poêlé à l’Estragon (Casserole-roasted Chicken with Tarragon), Child makes a brown tarragon sauce. This involves adding stock or bouillon and broth to the casserole and simmering for 2 minutes, scraping up coagulated roasting juices. All but a tablespoon of fat is skimmed off, and cornstarch mixed with Madeira or port is blended in. The sauce is simmered, then boiled until lightly thickened. Tarragon and butter are stirred in, and the sauce is seasoned to taste.
Child's Chicken Fricassee (Fricassee de Poulet à l’Ancienne) is a traditional French dish made with chicken cooked in a white sauce. The sauce is made with milk or cream, flour, and seasonings, and is simmered until thickened. Child recommends serving this dish with a buttery sauce, braised onions, and stewed mushrooms.
Child's Sautéed Chicken is served with a deglazing sauce made with minced green onions, dry white vermouth, and beef bouillon. The pan juices are reduced to about 1/3 cup, and enrichment butter is swirled in before serving.
Child also provides some general tips for sauce-making. She recommends swirling wine or stock around the pan after searing chicken, to release browned bits of meat and improve the sauce's flavour. She also suggests using a fine sieve or electric blender to deal with lumpy gravy.
Additionally, Child advises against over-seasoning during cooking, as the flavour intensifies as sauces reduce. She suggests adding salt at the end of cooking to avoid an unpalatable result.
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Carving and serving
Next, you'll want to carve the chicken into desired pieces. For a formal dinner, you may choose to carve the chicken into neat slices, while for a more casual meal, you could cut it into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Use a sharp knife to separate the legs, thighs, and breasts, being mindful of the bones. You can also remove the wings and cut them into two pieces each if desired.
Julia Child's chicken is often served with a fragrant sauce. To make this, spoon the excess fat from the pan juices, leaving behind about one tablespoon. Add chicken stock to the pan and boil until the mixture becomes lightly syrupy, which should take about five minutes. This sauce can then be drizzled over each serving of chicken.
For a complete meal, consider serving the chicken with roasted vegetables such as onions, carrots, and celery, which can be cooked alongside the chicken to absorb its flavours. Don't forget to remove any toothpicks or trussing strings before serving!
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Frequently asked questions
Julia Child's famous roast chicken recipe involves seasoning the bird inside and out, stuffing it with sautéed vegetables, fresh herbs, and lemon slices, and slathering it with butter. The chicken is then roasted and basted with pan juices. The pan juices are mixed with chicken stock and reduced into a sauce to bathe each serving.
Julia Child's coq au vin, or chicken in red wine, involves parboiling bacon to remove the smoke, sautéing the bacon in butter, and then browning the chicken. The recipe calls for a cut-up chicken, with bone-in and skin-on pieces. It is best made ahead of time and reheated gently the next day.
Julia Child's Chicken Fricassee (Fricassee de Poulet a L’Ancienne) is a traditional French dish made with a whole chicken that is cut into pieces and cooked in a white sauce. The sauce is made by combining milk or cream, flour, and seasonings, and the dish is simmered until the sauce thickens. The chicken is browned and cooked with vegetables and herbs.
Julia Child's Poulet Poele a L’Estragon, or Casserole-Roasted Chicken with Tarragon, involves seasoning the chicken cavity with salt, pepper, and butter, and inserting tarragon leaves or dried tarragon. The chicken is then trussed, dried, and rubbed with butter before being placed in a heavy fireproof casserole and cooked.
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