12339 Baby Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Sauce Serves 6 Wed Aug 06 01:04:44 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 03 01:11:48 -0800 2009 Licensed http://www.chow.com/recipes/12339 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:11:48 GMT The thought of a sauce of sweet garlic and astringent lemon at first astounded me. It turned out to be one of the most wonderful blends of two ingredients that I have ever tasted. Almost any bird could be served with this sauce; André Daguin used guinea hen when he first demonstrated it to me. Since then I have switched to baby chickens (poussins). You could also use Rock Cornish hens that have never been frozen. Any of these birds—or a chicken—make a succulent foil for the sauce.

Originally, this was a French Catalan dish that bore the nickname “the poultry dish for the bandits' hideout” (repaire de bandits Catalans), perhaps because the garlic was cooked so long, it lost its strong aroma and thus could not give away the location of the hiding bandits!

The dish can be made in two stages: the sauce base the day before and the cooking of the bird and the assembling just before it is served. Daguin suggests serving it with a gratin of sliced summer vegetables: eggplants, tomatoes, and zucchini.

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  • Rub the birds with salt and pepper. Cover loosely and refrigerate until 30 minutes before cooking.
  • Separate the garlic cloves. Blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes; drain and peel.
  • Peel 1½ of the lemons with a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler to remove the yellow zest. Blanch the zest in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute; drain and set aside. Cut off and discard the inner white peel (pith) from the lemons. Cut the lemons into thin slices; remove any seeds.
  • In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, combine the garlic cloves, with the lemon zest, lemon slices, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 4 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 to 2 hours, or until the liquid in the pan has almost entirely evaporated and the garlic cloves are golden brown and meltingly tender. Stir from time to time to avoid burning. (This can be done in a 350°F oven, in a heatproof glass or earthenware bowl. If you do roast the garlic and lemon in the oven, transfer to a saucepan before proceeding.)
  • Add the cream to the pan and boil, stirring often, until reduced by half. Strain through a fine sieve, pushing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard the solids. The garlic cream will be thick and will taste slightly acrid. Set it aside, uncovered, until cool, then refrigerate for up to 1 day until ready to use.
  • About 1¼ hours before serving, preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the remaining 1½ lemons into quarters. Slip 1 or 2 quarters into the cavity of each chicken. Truss them and rub with butter. Arrange the birds on their sides in a buttered roasting pan.
  • Roast the chickens for 1 to 1¼ hours, turning and basting every 15 minutes, until they are browned and the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh registers 160°F. To test for doneness, prick the thighs—if the juices run clear, the hens are done. Remove the trussing strings and lemon quarters; arrange the hens on a platter. Cover loosely with foil and return to turned-off oven to keep warm.
  • Discard the fat in the roasting pan. Pour in the port and bring to a boil on top of the stove, stirring to dissolve all the brown particles that cling to the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and boil quickly over high heat until reduced by half. Pour into a small saucepan.
  • Halve the hens; add any new juices that have accumulated on the platter to the sauce. Let the juices stand for a few moments to allow the fat to rise to the surface. Skim off and discard the fat. Stir in the reserved garlic cream. Boil quickly until the sauce is thickened to about 1⅓ cups. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, adding a few drops of lemon juice for perfect balance.
    • ]]>     http://www.chow.com Paula Wolfert 50 Main 3 baby chickens or large fresh Cornish game hens (1¼ to 1½ pounds each)

    ]]>     Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

    ]]>     6 heads of garlic

    ]]>     3 large lemons, preferably organic, well washed

    ]]>     ½ teaspoon sugar

    ]]>     1½ cups light cream or half-and-half

    ]]>     3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

    ]]>     ¼ cup imported Port or dry Madeira

    ]]>     2 cups unsalted chicken stock (storebought or homemade—page 405), reduced to 1 cup

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