I have a new cookbook,, Heart & Soul in the Kitchen by Jacques Pépin, and I’ve been enjoying the read, looking at recipes and thinking to myself, “Oh, that looks easier than I thought,” or “I should make that.” Well, I finally stopped thinking that to myself and actually made something from the book, the recipe for chicken jardiniere. Though, if I’m being honest, what really got me to try out this recipe wasn’t just reading the book, but watching a video of Jacques Pépin making the dish, which showed me that it really wasn’t difficult to make.
I’m going to list the ingredients, them I’ll state how I deviated from it.
- 2 1/2 ounces lean pancetta, cut into lardons (strips about 1-inch long and 1/2-inch thick)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
- 4 chicken legs (about 2 3/4 pounds), left whole or cut into 2 pieces each, ends of the drumsticks and skin removed (about 2 1/4 pounds trimmed)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup fruity dry white wine
- 3/4 cup water
- 12 small red potatoes (about 8 ounces), peeled
- 8 small baby bella or cremini mushrooms (about 5 ounces), washed
- 12 small pearl onions (about 4 ounces)
- 1 1/4 cups diced (1-inch) carrots
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 1 cup frozen baby peas
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
So, did I follow this ingredient list exactly? No, but I didn’t make huge deviations. Instead of pancetta, I used thick-cut bacon. What can I say, it was already in the fridge. The recipe doesn’t call for slicing the mushrooms but I sliced mine. I used cornstarch to thicken the sauce instead of flour and subbed chicken stock for the water. These really aren’t major substitutions, I just point them out as ones that can be made without really changing the recipe. If you use cornstarch to thicken instead of flour, you don’t need as much, I used about half the amount of the cornstarch as the amount of flour called for.
I didn’t use fresh thyme, I used dried thyme, and you usually don’t need as much dried herbs as you do fresh since dried herbs generally have a more concentrated flavor, so I used about 1-1/2 teaspoons of dried thyme.
I didn’t bother to peel my potatoes. That’s just my preference, I like potato skins and I really didn’t want to do the extra prep work. There goes that lazy cook habit again. I also didn’t bother to chop off the ends of the drumsticks.
If you watched the linked video, he’s not kidding when he says peeling pearl onions is tedious. Could I have used a regular white onion chopped into chunks? Probably, but I decided not to make that particular change.
I also didn’t mince fresh garlic. They have these super convenient jars of minced garlic in the store, I love them, they make things so much easier and I don’t get garlic hands. Generally, one clove of garlic equals 1/2 a teaspoon, though it depends on how finely the garlic is minced, it can range from 1/4 to 1 teaspoon.
Just one more thing. I’m sure that if you want to do this with both light and dark meat, or even just white meat, for those who aren’t fans of dark meat, that wouldn’t be a problem. Also, if you don’t want to get chicken quarters but prefer to use all drumsticks or all thighs, nothing says you have to use quarters.
You’ll also need a very large pot or Dutch oven, one wide enough to place the chicken pieces on a single layer when you’re browning them.
The cooking: In your large pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon pieces over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the pieces are crispy. Remove the bacon pieces and set them aside.
Increasing the heat to medium-high add, the chicken to the pot. Cook the chicken in a single layer, turning occasionally until browned on all sides. If there isn’t enough bacon fat, add the oil. I had plenty of rendered bacon fat and didn’t need to add any more oil.
Sprinkle on the flour (or cornstarch), salt and pepper and stir to distribute the flour (or cornstarch). Add the wine and water (or chicken stock) and stir. Add potatoes, pearl onions, carrots, garlic, mushrooms (if using whole mushrooms) thyme and reserved bacon and mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring throughout. Reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and the liquid is reduced by about half. If you’re using sliced mushrooms, add them at this point and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Then add the peas and cook for about another 2 minutes.
Once it’s all cooked, you can dish this out onto a large serving platter or onto individual plates. Once plated, sprinkle with the chopped parsley. I also highly recommend serving with crusty bread, because there will be sauce and that sauce is delicious.
Was this a good dinner? It was an extremely good dinner. Did we enjoy it? We sure did. Was this a difficult dish to prepare? No, it really wasn’t, but there is a bit of prep and all together it can take an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish. Did I save the chicken skin to make cracklins? No, I didn’t, and I should have. Next time I will, cracklins would have made a delicious garnish.
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