Chicken La Tulipe
Serves 2-4
This is a very fine “special occasion” dish for an intimate dinner. It comes from the famed La Tulipe of New York City (by way of the New York Times).
Ingredients #
- 1 1/2 ounce dried morels
- 4 tbsp Cognac
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 1/4 cup cream
- 1 whole chicken (on the small side, 3 1/2 lbs), neck and giblets removed
- Cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
Instructions #
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450. Rinse the chicken (inside and out) under cool water, and dry it very thoroughly (inside and out) with paper towels.
In a small bowl, soak the morels in the Cognac for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid.
Saute morels in 1 tablespoon butter over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the cream and reduce by half. Add 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Rub the skin of the chicken with the remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining salt and about 1/4 tsp black pepper. Spoon the morel mixture into the body cavity. Place the chicken on its side in the rack of a roasting pan. Roast is for 15 minutes on that side, baste it, turn it on its other side and roast for another 15 minutes before basting again. Finally, turn it breast-side up and roast for another 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven. Drain the fat from the roasting pan, add the wine and the reserved cognac, flambee immediately, and deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits. When the flames have subsided and the pan is deglazed, pour the mixture into a saucepan and reduce over high heat.
Shake the morels and chicken juices from the chicken cavity into the pot, add 3/4 cup cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Sauce should be thickened. Taste for seasoning.
Cut the chicken into 8 serving pieces, arrange them on a platter and pour the sauce over them.