Sunday chicken recipe
Serves 4
Sunday chicken ingredients.
- 1 free-range chicken, gutted, approx. 2 kg
- 1 good-sized shallot
- 2 unpeeled garlic cloves (leave the skin on for cooking)
- 4 white onions
- 200 grams potatoes (Noirmoutier, Samba or other).
- 100 grams softened butter (room-temperature butter)
- 1 glass of water
- Salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Use aluminum foil.
Potatoes are as essential as chicken.Choose medium-sized ones. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: Ilo de Pixabay
Worth knowing:
In the South, butter is easily replaced by olive oil (1 heaping tablespoon).
Optional:
Parsley and tarragon, or herbes de provence.
How to make the Sunday chicken recipe.
A good roast chicken with potatoes... So good! Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: zmaris via depositphotos
1
Preheat oven to 180°C (gas mark 6).
2
Rinse your chicken under running water, then dry it well (with paper towels, for example).
3
Peel and finely chop the shallot. Halve the garlic.
4
Peel your onions and cut them into fairly thick strips. Peel your potatoes and cut them in half if they are small, or in 4 if they are large.
5
Take 50 grams of butter and massage the chicken on all sides, paying particular attention to the breast and thighs.
6
Season your chicken on all sides with salt and pepper.
7
In an ovenproof dish, arrange the onions, chopped shallot and 2 cloves of garlic. Some add a sprinkling of raisins
8
Make a buttonhole on your chicken by placing a little more butter on the breast and thighs. Take your dish and place your chicken on one side. Add the glass of water.
9
Place the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes at 180°C on one side. Baste it occasionally with its juices, and keep the filling moving so it doesn't stick.
10
Add the potatoes and turn the chicken onto its other side for the same length of time as before. Baste occasionally with the juices.
11
Lay the chicken flat on its back and cook for a further 20 minutes, basting regularly with its juices. If it seems too dry, add a little water and the remaining butter.
12
If you like herbes de Provence, add them 30 minutes before the end of cooking.
Astuce
In the oven, the chicken should be placed in the middle of the oven, at fan-assisted heat. You can also cover it with aluminum fo il for stewing, and put it on the grill 30 minutes before the end for a crispier skin.
A meal to share with the family. You can be 6 on a beautiful chicken. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: monkeybusiness via depositphotos.
An emblematic dish
Sunday chicken first appeared in the 19th century. It was first served on bourgeois tables because chicken was very expensive. More expensive than beef. It has to be said that, in the countryside, chickens were kept to make eggs, and the henhouse was far from being a battery farm. It was barely enough for the family's consumption. The development of the potato in the 19th century, the democratization of butter and olive oil thanks to the growing number of cows and Europe's largest rail network, which facilitated transportation, eventually made it a more accessible dish for the French, to the point of becoming the emblematic Sunday family dish right up to the present day.
