A step by step guide to cooking another dish from the French Cooking Academy.
1 whole chicken (around 2 kg)
1 tbsp all-purpose flour to coat the chicken, plus 2 tbsp to cook the chicken
2 tbsp good quality lard (pork fat) or oil
2 shallots, sliced
20 g unsalted butter
50 ml gin or Jenever (Dutch spirit)
5 button mushrooms, quartered
150 g smoked bacon, cut into large strips (lardons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp juniper berries
3-4 cloves
50 g brown sugar (demerara sugar)
3 bay leaves
Few sprigs of thyme
750 ml of Belgian amber ale (I use a Trappist triple)
1 or 2 tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
We Glasses um this is a CH a uh Trappist uh beer from ban Triple L so it’s a strong we’re going to cook with it another sep we’re doing a slight twist and I got this from Stefan from the F French Cooking Academy again and and this is rather than cocko
Van this is Coco beer or to be strictly speaking because it’s not actually a and we’ll come to that um it is La um laou aler so you’re going to need some chicken now as it happens all I’ve got here is a load of um thighs um if you’re doing it properly
You do it with a whole chicken a come a minute um actually a rooster a is a male h a male chicken but we’re come to that in a minute um we’re just doing this with thighs if you’re doing it with a whole chicken obviously you got the chicken
The wings uh sorry the the thighs the wings the breast and everything but we’re just doing it with thighs so put that to other side you’re going to need your trais beer about 750 Ms of that so I hav’t got much more of that to drink um some Gin some juniper berries some
Cloves and Thyme some brown sugar two shots about five or six but mushrooms um about 150 g of lardons if you like like um if you’re not doing it with a whole chicken which we’re not you’re going to need some chicken stock some bay leaves a small amount it’s not
Got a lot of double cream some pasty a bit of flour and about 20 G of butter the pulle Alaba I’ve got my chicken and we’re just going to season it with some salt and some Crush G pepper now um this imparts obviously different flavor to your your cocko van as it
Were and the other thing I’m going to do I’ve got about 3 tablespoons of flour here um we’re just going to give it a little bit of a light uh dusting um but the beer adds a completely different flavor to the the chicken uh to you know then you would
Get with a cocko that um and also by using just chicken rather than the rooster which is the traditional thing just wash your hands up in it um again you get different flavors as well um because traditionally you used a rooster and um that was a male chicken however you got to
Snip um it’s almost impossible certainly in England to get Roosters okay so you’re going to sort of Miss out a little bit on that that flavor oops a bit overw on that um you’re going to use more of the flour later but for now we’re just giving that a bit of a ni
Coating I’m going to set that to one side you’re going to cook this a dutch oven now you can cook the whole thing on the Hub on the Hub um but Stefan sort of claims it’s better in the oven part of it um we’re not using chicken breasts so we can
Shove it in the oven for about 40 minutes um but if you’re using chicken breasts um because they tend to cook quicker than the other bits we’d be removing them at some stage so you what I’m going to do now I’m just going to peel the chelot and finally slice them okay
Because then we’re going to start the cooking so I’ve peed Lots I’ve got a slice them yet but I think we better get the chicken cooking um now if you can get like a big b um big sort of slab of baked bacon with you know a lot of fat
On it um you use the fat and render that down or you can use lad or if you’re not that Keen on either of them um you can use oil so we’re going to add a bit of oil um I might us that and if you were doing a
Carcass you you’ve butchered it as it were cut off the pieces but you keep all the carcass the bones um preferably cut up a bit and first thing we do is we get this Dutch oven really nice and hot and we’d be shoving the carcass in there cuz
We want to develop them flavors there’s me there it is and get down you ler we want to develop those flavors now like I said we’re not doing that so we’re going to use um what’s name um chicken stop but if you doing the bones the
Carcass sear it all over in about 5 minutes pull them out um and then we take those seasoned of lightly flowed chicken pieces and they’re GNA go in there now what we want to do is effectively sort of sear them on both sides for about 4 minutes we’re not
Trying to cook them we’re just searing the outside and then we can then move on to building up the flavors so while that’s coming up to heat I’m just going to finally slice my shalots um the butter mushrooms will be quaring them but we’re not doing them
Just yet so I’m not too worried about that but to be honest actually that will be the last of the knife work so in goes the chicken pieces um I might have to do this in two batches don’t quite got the room there um to do them all so like I say
We’re going to do them about 4 minutes on each side just to sear the outside and then I’m going to remove them and put them back on this plate uh because they’ll go into the pot to be cooked in all the beer and everything else um
Like I say you can cover all this entire thing on the hob um but we’re going to put in the oven you will also need to grill it at some stage Stephan’s very naughty he says broil it he’s bloody French and he’s in France don’t talk bloody American really Bo right that’s the
Chicken out before I do any more uh anything else um I’m now just going to add about 20 G of unsalted butter okay and we’re then just going to put in those shots and part of what we want to do here is to De glaze the pan
Okay so this is where we’re going to use gin now you can use Brown if you like but we’re flavoring it with well it would be traditionally Geneva good old George Bishop Jin from The maon Distillery get a mid low on that so in goes a
Again and we just give that a bit of a just turn that heat down a little bit a bit of a stir with The Wooden Spoon heat coming out of there just to loosen up all those nice juicy bits that come off the chicken not as much as
It probably would have been if we had a car cut in there um but we don’t want to miss out on any of those flavors now we’re going to add about half of those quartered butter mushrooms okay and we’re going to add about half the lons 150 g of that there
Okay and now we’re just going to cook that through for a little bit try and get obviously those lardons reduced down a bit and you may notied the glass has changed because obviously I need all that beer the boy didn’t buy an off L spare um and then I
Couldn’t find a bloody French one and I got fren one but I did found one we got this MBE from the C region not sure that clean on that one we did many many years ago when we used to regularly holiday in France uh visit down in the lot uh little
Vineyard bought some cor and that was excellent that was lovely stuff bought a case or two of that that disappeared longer ago U but that was really really nice um quite a sure of that one although it does say it’s meit rather than just straight C but knowing me I’m
Sing that probably that’s exactly what a c is but I don’t know um so we’re just going to cook that for a bit get that L on cooked now if we will cook in with all the bits and everything like I just earlier said we would now start building up
Layers we’d put the carcass bits on the bottom then the bits like the thighs and that with the bones in and then the breasts on top but we ain’t going to worry about any of that and the reason you put the breasts on top is cuz they’re coming out before you you know
Give it the main cook um but we ain’t going to worry about that cuz we ain’t using that we’re just using FES so um and the other thing is you got to be careful about your beers that you you’re put in there um they want to be
Nice and flavored okay but I say these are triple triple L they call it triple string but the alcohol will just all boil off because getting the flavors out and apparently you don’t want to use um ler what I’m going to add just for put that chicken back is the stock um pot
Cuz like I said cuz we haven’t used all the carcass we haven’t got a for lot of chicken flavor there yet so now ien made that up with liquid because we’re going to be adding liquid in very shortly okay so I’m just going to sort
Of try and break that up a little bit and now this is where we’re now going to add back in that chicken and like I say if we were doing um the whole thing put the bones in that at the bottom then the Bony bits of chicken
If you might if you’re with me let me just move that wooden spoon and then the breasts on top simply because you need to remove the breasts um take don’t have cooker um now I know that’s mainly oil but there’s also some flavor in there so that’s going in there this
Now want that again put it there for now um we now want our salt and pepper back and we’re just going to season it again and then we’re going to want um the remaining flour so about two tablespoons if we’ve used one we’re just going
To and this is to help thicken the sauce now the sauce isn’t meant to be um but really runny and although we will be adding some double cream uh the idea is it’s not a cream sauce it’s a beon sauce and this is where now the beer is coming in right
Yeah put the beer in now that’s going to foam up initially now you can do a similar one with CER pH I’m waiting for it to go bloody mess now so that’s about 750 Ms of beer now you can add more if you wanted to um
But like I say depends depends on how running you want the sauce you don’t really want it that running okay we’re just letting that foam subside a bit and then we’re going to add the spices now like I said um we’re adding some cloves okay I’ve got about five cloves there
Um I’ve got a is it teaspoon tablespoon teaspoon of juniper berries cuz we want to enhance that Juniper flavor um I’ve got some the sugar how much did I say that is it 50 g yeah 50 g of sugar now this is because traditionally this would make be apparently made with a spiced
Bread um and Stefan says about using the sugar to replace that although I was reading some some of the comments earlier with his video and people were saying well actually to be honest if you if if you’re replacing spiced bread it’s not just about putting the sugar in
There for the sweetness you should be adding stuff like cinnamon that but you don’t do it um and then we put in about four bay leaves now I’ll put a couple of extra in simply because these bay leaves are dried bay leaves they using fresh okay we’re just going to give that a
Gentle mix and then the final thing is add a few sprigs of th now we’re going to bring this up to the boil as such put that let me put that there for a minute and then when we’ve done that put a lid on it and put in the oven and
We’re cooking it through for at least 40 minutes if you got chicken breast in it take it out after 15 remove the chicken breast put to one side and then put the lip back on put it back in again for about another 30 minutes or whatever 20 35 minutes um so
At this stage all youve got left is the rest of your lons your rest of your mushrooms your double cream and you want some flat leaf parsley to sort of at the end all right so that’s out of the oven now and I’ve now put the grill on okay
But we’re just going to remove that lid I just want to keep remembering not it’s been TCH um so to be honest hope that’s cooked that seems to be boiling an a lot um so all I’m going to do at this point this say accidentally touching top
Of that bloody thing is I’m going remove my chicken now if I removed the breast earlier i’ be adding these to the breasts okay and we’re also going to remove things up time I’m just going to put that and the bay leaves for now I’m just going to put
That there and then once I’ve got these here on the tray they’re going to go under that Grill and we just want to sort of like Crispen up the outside if you like and then we’re going to be wanting to reduce that stock or sauce if you like down
So just going to see if I can get the other bits and pieces out and uh oops I just found a Baya and I’ve lost it come here little bastard there it is right so let me get that under the we’ll get rid of that first get that under the
Grill and then we’ll start on this now actually I can start this already what I’m going to do is we going to WP this up on high heat and we want to get reducing that down um for at least 5 minutes okay but we
Want to get this so that if we dipped a spoon in it it doesn’t just run straight off it’s spoon coating consistency see I think that’s going to be more than five bloody minutes what I’m going to do at this point is I’m going to take my
Sauce and I’m just going to SI it through into sauce SP okay because we don’t really want all them clothes and things like that biting into them and I know you might argue it’s a bit of a waste there with the mushrooms and the bacon but remember these bits
Are just there for the flavor we’ve still got some more to do there so I’m now just going to put that back on the heat let me transfer that before I make a believe mess anywhere I’m going to put that back on the heat nice high heat and I’m going to
Add a couple of spoonfuls couple of tablespoons if you like of double cream now like I said before it is not a cream sauce don’t you dare make a b met you um so we’re not after making it creamy we’re just after helping it thicken up a bit of course
That double cream is fing it like butter now we’re now just going to reduce this down to like I say we want this to be now a nice thickish um sauce one that when you sort of dip your spoon in it it sort of adds a bit of a COA to it rather
Than just running straight off um and then part one I’m a Choy parsley up got a generous handful of parsley there and then you’re going to need another pan and I could have left it all in that one pan and sa from washing up but I think the sauce will look better like
This don’t think Stephan strains it but there you go so I put that on for oh I know it was cuz be chickens under the grill let me have a look how we’re doing here couple more minutes remember that one so the chicken’s out it’s just resting there for a minute I’ve moved
My sauce to the mac and just turn the heat down now it’s gently simmering away so next thing is we’re going to put on a reasonable heat another pan and I’m going to start by taking the rest of them bits of lons and we’re just going to he say almost touching that thing
We’re just going to fry that up a little bit just to get a bit of fat out and then I’ll be tossing the other mushrooms in there um I’ve chopped me parsley to me wi up so when this is nice and golden perhaps the but l a little bit
Crispy we’ll assemble the dish so I’m going to do in these bowls we put in sauce we put in the chicken we then add some of the uh lardon and mushroom garnish and sprink a little bit of parcle on top and that will be our finished
Dish at the moment I’m just waiting on this fat to render down a little bit that’s still nice and boiling away and it has the seal of approval from her majesty the one the boss who earlier came in the kitchen finally hav got out of the bath and D
Around um and goes oh now that smells really nice didn’t taste it yet that’s all the heat off this is started to cook up um the sauce is reduced down so uh what we do like I said is we take some of that sauce and we’re going to add some of that taste
This well made a bloody mess I know a bloody do that you bloody bastard you do it so that’s the sauce let’s have a little taster see what that’s like spoon do sort of coat the spoon So let see what it’s like he says without trying to make a bloody mess everywhere definitely s getting that beer having tast of the beer I’m getting that beer through I’m thinking I think I’m getting a clove as well that’s nice right so this is cold because I picked this up um
Next is we’re now just going to transfer our chicken into that sauce skin Side Up crispy skin side up he says try to drop it everywhere three four got four each to put that there that’s that finish with that’s that finish with for now and then like I
Say our final little touch is we’re now just going to add garnish of those lons and mushrooms that’s going to to go and dishwash your Li booger and then finally give it a little sprinkle of parsley and there is ready for tasting Al Al I’m just going to get that lard
Off the floor before I go ass over on it so time to do a little bit of a taste I’m just going to put that down in a minute while try and get a bit of chicken off cuz if I’m holding it in me hands also that but thing is getting way more
Um probably be easy find had a moody knife as well there we go bit of chicken dunk it in that sauce get a mushroom I think the Juniper and and the clove comes through quite strongly but also Serv as the beer the chicken’s nicely
Cooked just lost a bit I had a bit of chicken there where’s it going sauce is nice and Rich little bit creamy but not too creamy definely winner probably better with a nice crisp white wine called white wine couldn’t find a French one but there you
Go a p ol beer chicken and beer