Art of the French Omelette

If you’ve heard of French omellete recipes, there is a lot of debate about what this actually means. And with so many recipes that mention French omelette, there are many more that usually have ingredients inside the omelette itself. Here’s a little secret I want to share with you.

What makes a French Omelette?

Cooking French Omelette in pan

The one truth about making an omelette using French methods is very simple by definition. This includes eggs and butter and in reality, that’s all there is to it. The egg must be prepared in a way that the texture is very soft and fluffy, so obviously it needs to be whisked so you get evenly created bubbles all throughout the mixture.

When it’s cooked, the texture is intended to be silky and moist and isn’t supposed to be overcooked. As long as you have a delicately cooked egg, this is how your finished recipe should be. Another vital ingredient is butter, which gives added flavor to any omelette. Too often, this is replaced with low-calorie alternatives that were never a concern 50 years ago.

Now that leaves us with the burning question about fillings. And this is where adding white pepper is all part of the charm of French cooking. The pepper flavor remains but doesn’t pepper your omelette surface with little black specks. You also shouldn’t have any ingredients that are showing on the outside of the egg, so it’s better to be added within the centre.

This is where using medium-high heat is essential to get a wonderful yellow egg color that’s cooked but not brown in color. This not only makes it a challenge for those who are new to French cooking. You can’t use standard cooking pans, this will call for a cast-iron pan because of the evenly distributed heat.

It also requires that you’ve seasoned a pan to get the best non-stick surface that keeps delicate ingredients like an egg from sticking at all. Butter is a natural non-stick additive for omelettes so cooked egg slides out with little or no effort. This can be problematic for some Teflon-coated pans that can ruin cooked omelettes right away. We saw this omelette pan article where omelettes were made with various pans showing more or less the same results regardless of the type of non-stick pans used.

If you keep in mind all of these elements, the art of the French Omelette will be a cinch for making in your home kitchen. If not, your not really cooking the French way, which is why French cooking includes these specific rules. Here’s my favorite recipe for making a simple French omelette that sticks to these exact requirements.

As the great chef, Julia Child, once noted, read through the entire recipe before making your first omelet. Egg recipes move very quickly and there is no time to consult your recipe once you’ve begun the process.

Recipe for French Omelette

French Omelette Recipe

Sammy
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine French
Calories 325 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Medium eggs (range free)
  • 5 Grams Butter (or 1 teaspoon olive oil)
  • White pepper
  • 2 Slices Bayonne ham (thin sliced)
  • 2 Tablespoons Fresh chives (finely chopped)

Instructions
 

  • The secret to this recipe is getting your eggs to be fluffy enough so your cooked French omelette will be light and fluffy. You could use a fork which will take forever, though a handy kitchen whisk makes small bubbles in your egg mix that works wonders. Add white pepper (and salt) for seasoning.
  • Use a frying pan that will be large enough for all of your eggs. Any standard large pan is perfect yet a pan that heats quickly including a cast-iron pan is best for French cooking. Heat your pan over medium-high heat and start to melt your butter. This should be spread over the entire surface and up onto the sides of your pan.
  • When the butter becomes foamy and starts to lightly brown, it’s ready for adding your whisked egg mixture. As the sides of the mixture start to cook this needs to be dragged down to the liquid centre. You now quickly allow more uncooked eggs to coat along the sides.
  • This method helps keep much of your egg staying undercooked to get a fluffy centre. As you finish off your omelette, you then add your slices of Bayonne ham in the centre and cover this with half of your chives. Save the rest for topping it off. The rest of the eggs around the sides will be golden brown as they are folded over.
  • You want to fold the entire omelette in half and shuffle your pan to release the rest of your omelette from the pan. This is then transferred to a serving dish where you add the rest of the chives on top.
Keyword french Omelet, french omlete, french omlette

French Style BBQed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is one of the best crowd-pleasers for a great choice cut of meat. When you cook this BBQ style, you can be sure that this will satisfy those who are looking for tender and juicy BBQ meat. But what happens when you put a little Harry Eastwood influence with some very original French BBQ flair into the mix? You get a BBQ port tenderloin that will leave you speechless!

What Makes French BBQ Different?

Man Applying herbs de Province On Pork Tenderloin

The traditional herbs and spices that are more common in France all come down to a basic combination called herbs de Province. It’s a combo that uses rosemary, thyme, oregano, savory, and marjoram. On that note, you can’t forget that fennel seeds, bay leaves, tarragon, chervil, and even lavender are part of this mixture. If you love the taste of dried basil, parsley, and sage are popular ingredients to add to your herbs de Provence.

Yet, with French BBQ, these flavors might change the taste of the meat, which to say the least might start tasting too traditional and more like a country-style dish rather than what we’re looking for in BBQ. This recipe does take advantage of thyme and lemon zest to give the pork flavor a distinct lingering aftertaste. The addition of honey and soy sauce with garlic brings out the grilling punch that makes BBQ meat delicious.

Obviously, you can draw the comparison here that shows you can still have plenty of French influence without spoiling the tenderness you get from pork tenderloin. But to keep this select slab of meat from drying out on the BBQ, you’ll certainly need to take plenty of care for allowing it to marinade properly. The thicker your tenderloin cut happens to be, you must allow 1-hour per 2 pounds of meat.

So- Let’s get started!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Marinated Pork Tenderloin Recipe

This barbecue favorite is perfect for the summer with a distinctly French flavor written all over it. This recipe is ideal for up to 6 people and can be prepared in less than 1-hour depending on your meat thickness. You’ll need:
Course Side Dish
Cuisine French
Servings 6 Peoples
Calories 250 kcal

Equipment

  • Microwave
  • Large bowl
  • Spoon
  • Plastic cling wrap
  • Fridge
  • Kitchen brush
  • Foil
  • Grill or Smoker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Pork Tenderloin (2lbs)
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Lime juice
  • 4 Tablespoons Soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Honey
  • 1 Garlic clove (crushed or minced)
  • 1 Lime (whole zest)
  • 1 Portion of thyme (about a handful)
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions
 

Prepping Your Marinade

  • This marinade is prepared beforehand and should allow your meat to properly absorb these flavors for no less than 1-hour. If you have a larger or thicker portion, let it marinade for 1-hour (for each 2lbs.) accordingly. Try to use honey that isn’t too thick, so place it into a microwave to make it thinner and easier to mix your marinade. The important part of this recipe is using a fine grater to zest your lime.
  • The smaller the zest pieces are, the better off your meat will absorb these delicate flavors. You don’t need to tenderize your tenderloin other than slicing it down the middle to help it lay flatter on your BBQ. For thicker cuts, you can create a flank-like cut with two slices on opposing sides of the tenderloin to create a scalloped edge that helps to make the piece wider.
  • Into a large bowl, add all of your marinade ingredients and mix them well with a spoon. You now add your prepared meat and then place this into the fridge. Flip your meat after each hour to ensure the marinade is coating the tenderloin on all sides. You should cover the meat with a plastic cling wrap so there is less chance the garlic and soy sauce aren’t scenting anything else in your fridge.

Grilling Your Tenderloin

  • This will be much better if you have a BBQ that has a closing lid so the cooking time is shorter, but always be sure to cook your tenderloin on indirect heat. This will help make the pork deliciously tender. It will take 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of your pork for the tenderloin to cook. Once you lay the tenderloin slab onto the grill you also want to sear it on both sides if you like the grilled appearance.
  • After this, place your slab onto the indirect heat and let it cook until it’s done. If you want to add more marinade, this can be swabbed onto the surface (using a kitchen brush) on your pork for added flavor.
  • Beware, pork quickly becomes dry and overcooked. The sweet spot for your tenderloin is 145°F. This means you should pull the tenderloin off the grill when it hits about 140°F and wrap it in foil to let it rest on the counter while the carryover finishes it to completion (145°F). There are endless grill thermometers that will help you keep an eye on the internal temperature while its sitting inside your grill or smoker.
    When it’s done, all you need to do is slice and serve.

Grilled French Style Sausage

This is another great twist on Harry Eastwood’s Turkey sausage recipe except we’re adding a French grilling version. This recipe calls for using Toulouse sausage made from pork. While turkey is generally healthier, this pork sausage is only 150 calories per sausage link which is still pretty tame considering the original recipe with a Turkey sausage is 440 calories per serving. Plus, the grilled liquid from the sausage itself is enough to replace certain ingredients.

Is There A French Grilling Method?

Toulouse Sausage on grill

We often look at French cuisine as a highly technical art of cooking on the stovetop, but the French would highly disagree these days. They have honed their skills to the point of purity rules that include only pure wood and pure charcoal mixtures. It’s also an unknown trend that began almost 30 years ago throughout big and small French cities. Thanks to emerging cookbooks on the French method of grilling, the word is getting out quickly.

Toulouse Sausage recipe

Toulouse Sausage

Sammy
We recommend that you fire up your grill using only the best charcoal and wood to give your grilled foods taste remarkable. Keep in mind that a single sausage link will feed up to 4 people if you slice the link into1-inch thick slices. You can follow this handy recipe for Toulouse sausage or buy them already made at specialty French import shops. Here's how to make your sausage grill up just right:
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Toulouse sausage sliced into 1-inch rounds (or moredepending on each person)
  • 9 Cups baby spinach (organic spinach stuffed into ameasuring cup)
  • ¼ Cup of chicken broth (low sodium variety)
  • 1 Large Lemon (zested)
  • 1 Large Lemon (juiced after being zested)
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1-2 Tablespoon garlic (freshly minced)- Optional

Instructions
 

  • Prepping your ingredients
    Start with your outdoor grill that will serve as your cooking surface. You want to use a cast iron griddle so that any liquid that comes out of your sausage will become extra flavoring for your broth sauté. Place your griddle onto the direct heat to get the best sear on your sausage. As it starts to grill and melt away the fatty juices, you can flip each of them to get a great crust that fries them evenly and quickly.
    After this, you want to move your griddle to medium heat and add your chicken stock. If you want to have more garlic flavor you can now add freshly minced garlic. Toulouse sausage already has a lot of garlic, but an extra tablespoon or two won't hurt this recipe much at all. Give this a little stir and then add your lemon zest and juice followed by your baby spinach leaves. Now cover the griddle and let this simmer for 5 minutes.
    After this, you can remove the cover and let the remaining steam boil off. Move your griddle to the indirect side so the remaining steam vents away. At this point, you want to give this a taste so you can determine if you need to add extra salt or pepper. Mix the entire mixture by tossing the spinach and sausage together and serve this on a plate. This will make 4 equal servings or two very-hearty larger servings.
  • Serving sides
    One great added side dish to this is freshly baked cornbread, which isn't typically your local French recipe either. You can slice a fresh baguette into thin slices and grill them with a bit of butter and garlic basted on top. Alternatively, you can dip these slices into the liquid left-over in your griddle and grill this directly on your BBQ to toast them up. If you want to give your bread a little smoky flavor, you can also close the lid for a minute or so.
    The best wine to add to this recipe is always going to be a wide range. If you enjoy red wine you can always choose a good merlot or cabernet sauvignon. There is also chardonnay if you prefer white wine that goes well with Toulouse sausage. If you prefer very good red wines, the best choices are often from Napa Valley, while Australian white wine has been getting rave reviews recently. Of course, you can never go wrong with any red or white French wines.
Keyword french, healthy bbq,, sausage

Tasty Smoked Lamb Burger

The reluctant vegetarian Harry Eastwood may once have been an activist in her early angst days, but she made good on her quest to find solace in what makes a perfectly normal meat-eating diet worthy to embrace. In this wonderful recipe from her epic meat bible “Carneval”, Harry shows how BBQ and a bit of nostalgia for smoking food can make this lamb recipe become the feast of all seasons.

BBQ is all about smoking food?

burger patties on grill

We all know how grilling anything on the BBQ will add a certain amount of smokiness to your food. It’s a flavor that you can’t get in a conventional frying pan and will often turn ordinary burgers into a memory that people remember every time you have a grill party. To recreate this Harry Eastwood dish in a whole new way, you’ll certainly want to bookmark this page for upcoming grill parties. Here’s how we do French BBQ even better;

Smoked Lamb Burger recipe

Smoked Lamb Burger

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 800 Grams Minced Lamb Shoulder (80/20 mix)
  • 2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Mint (finely chopped)
  • 2 Tablespoons Chopped fresh parsley (finely chopped)
  • 2 Tablespoons Chopped fresh dill (finely chopped)
  • 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (your choice)
  • Teaspoon Dried chili flakes
  • 4 Sun-Dried tomatoes (finely chopped with salt and pepperadded for taste)

Garlic/Cilantro Mayonnaise Topping

  • 8 Tablespoons Mayonnaise (your choice)
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon or lime juice (fresh squeezed)
  • 2 Garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
  • 1 Small Bundle fresh cilantro (finely chopped)
  • 1 Pinch of smoked paprika
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)

 For Building Your Burger

  • 12 Slices of Halloumi cheese (thin sliced)
  • 6 Hamburger Buns (freshly baked)
  • 1 Bunch of baby spinach leaves
  • 1 Red Onion (peeled and finely sliced)

Instructions
 

  • Prepping your ingredients
    You'll want to start up your BBQ grill and set aside your favorite smoking wood for the lamb and Halloumi. This is subjective but most folks will recommend Olive, Apple, or Pecan wood. You can't go wrong with hickory or mesquite if you prefer smokier flavor likewise. Since the halloumi often tastes great with Oakwood, it works great with lamb burgers too. The added mint and herbs will set off the flavor of lamb additionally.
    Start with mixing your minced lamb with all of your herbs, mustard, chili, seasoning, and sun-dried tomatoes. After this, you form these into six individual patties inside an emptied tuna tin with both the top-bottom ring removed. This forms the best-shaped burger form. Place these into the fridge until you're ready to grill.
Keyword french, healthy bbq,, lamb burger

Our Favorite Eastwood Dishes

As a nation, we’re embracing low-calorie foods more and more with many changes in the way we look at healthy eating. French chef Harry Eastwood has some of our favorite dishes that will satisfy your craving for healthier dishes that are still packed with plenty of flavors.

Roasted chicken

Roasted-chicken in black dish

Here’s a great twist on free-range chicken that will change your concept of what stuffing is really used for. Most of us think of chicken stuffing as being a great side dish that is delicious and filled with lots of bread crumbs and spices. This stuffing also serves as a tenderizer for your chicken, since this is free-range chicken. Instead of being finished off in a saucepan, this stuffing is marinated underneath the skin of your chicken.

This is somewhat awkward if you don’t have much experience pulling the skin away from a whole chicken. The trick is to start at the base of the neck and slowly work your way down the breast. When you’ve reached the hind legs (drumsticks), then you’re ready to start adding the stuffing underneath the skin. This stuffing mixture includes roughly chopped wild mushrooms, parsley, lemongrass, tarragon, minced garlic, and sliced prosciutto.

Kung Pao chicken

kung-pao-chicken in white dish

Who doesn’t like Chinese food with lower calories and is much tastier if you prepare this meal in a traditional wok. What is not mentioned is how old your wok must be nor how much of the wok has buildup flavor. If you are unaware of wok cooking, you aren’t supposed to clean the inside surface of your wok. This helps to preserve seasonings that were built up from previous wok dishes.

Typically, you use a paper towel to wipe away any oil and leftover food within the wok itself. What’s left is a surface that includes seasonings that are lining the surface of the steel. Because you’re using free-range chicken, this is cut into thin strips and placed into a tablespoon of cornflour and then one tablespoon of water is added to this. This helps make a paste that covers the chicken strips. These are added immediately to a hot wok.

The marinade is added right after this with other ingredients, and then finally the vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce to thicken this mixture further. After it gets thick, it gets served with rice and chopped cilantro on top.

Gourmet lamb burger

Gourmet-lamb-burger with ketchup in white plate

Everyone likes a great hamburger and what better way to enjoy hamburgers than to add a different type of hamburger meat. This version uses a lean lamb with only 20% fat content, so it’s going to give you plenty of flavors and lower calories. Harry likes to add chopped mint, parsley, dill, Dijon mustard, dried chili flakes, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.

What gives this burger a real kick in the mayonnaise sauce with minced garlic, finely chopped cilantro, smoked paprika powder, and a dash of fresh lemon or lime juice. The final touch is grilling fresh Halloumi cheese. This classic Greek cheese is made from goat or sheep and gives the lamb tempting and tasty squeaky cheese flavors. This gives your lamb burger more salt with a fine creamy aftertaste.

Top this burger off with purple onion slices and a sweet chili marmalade or jam. Be sure to buy top-quality burger buns that are fresh and not the typical store package variety.

Gratin Dauphinois

Gratin-Dauphinois in pan on wood piece

While we’ve saved the best for last, this southern French recipe is just the perfect side dish that is enjoyed with just about any kind of meat. Now this version of Gratin Dauphinois requires waxy potatoes that are Charlotte potatoes that need to scrubbed rather than peeled. They’re sliced thinly into coin size slices using a mandoline slicer. You can do this by hand if you like, but a mandoline makes slicing them evenly a lot easier.

It’s important to get your bring your skim milk to a slow simmer beforehand so these potatoes don’t start to brown. In this recipe, you’re also adding a whole bulb of garlic that is bashed and peeled. When the potatoes are soft but not totally cooked, these are strained and then added to your casserole dish with grated Gruyére cheese and 3 tablespoons of crème Fraiche, then baked in an oven for 20 minutes until it’s golden brown on top.

The remaining milk can also be saved and used as a base for garlic-flavored béchamel for other sauces if you like. Bon Appétit!

Boeuf Bourguignon: The Evolution from Julia to Harry

The evolution of a classic French dish like Boeuf Bourguignon is a hard act to follow if you happen to liken it to the mighty French chef Julia Childs. Yet, Harry Eastwood is no second banana when it comes to reinventing the wheel for a traditional beef burgundy stew.

A historical dish in the making

Julia Childs cook Boeuf Bourguignon

When we’re talking about traditional French cuisine, it’s easy to imagine that a recipe has a long-standing history behind it. That couldn’t be further from the truth, since this beef stew is not really that old at all. It’s actually an invention that began in the 19th Century and sprang out of variants that also appeared in the mid-19th Century -likewise. So how exactly did an obscure beef stew cooked in deep red wine gain such popularity?

Well, for most Americans who grew up watching television in the 1960s and 1970s, Julia Childs might as well be credited to introducing French cooking and cuisine.

Her televised cooking show introduced a culture and method of creating French meals that look fun and highly cultured. As if most of us still remember her getting tipsier after adding a dash too much of cooking cherry. Well, after all, it was considered social to drink like a fish…

How times have changed

harry eastwood cook Boeuf Bourguignon

These days, we have seen many changes in social attitudes about beef and Harry Eastwood is no slouch when it comes to observing these changes. In a world where Veganism and Vegetarianism are on the brink of self-destruction, even an ex-Vegetarian like Harry admits to the big lie we’ve all been fed. There is nothing wrong with eating meat and without a healthy, daily amount of lean red meat.

In fact, no amount of supplements containing natural iron and protein can prevent illness and muscle loss. But the most important part of Harry’s contribution to French cuisine is not shying away from the same mob that wants to cancel her writing career. This is how she has redefined Beef Burgundy stew that has a careful balance of nutrition and outstanding flavor.

What makes the Eastwood version so different?

Julia's Version vs Harry's Version

Oh, did we forget to tell you that ingredients count when it comes to making plenty of flavors? Of course, Julia Childs would disagree, yet she might even agree to the scientific changes that make this recipe work like a charm. Here is a side by side comparison of each ingredient:

Boeuf-Bourguignon in pan Featured image

Boeuf Bourguignon

Julia's Version & Harry's Version

Ingredients
  

Julia's Version

  • 6 Slices of bacon (cut into Lardons)
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 Pounds stewing beef (2" cubes)
  • 3 Cup red wine (chianti or deep red)
  • 1 Carrot
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose)
  • 1 Pinch course salt
  • 2?-3? Cups beef stock
  • 2 Cloves garlic (crushed)
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 Bay leaf (crushed)
  • ? Teaspoon thyme
  • 18-24 Pearl onions (small)
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Pound White mushrooms (quartered)
  • 1 Herb bouquet
  • 4 Sprigs parsley Chopped parsley
  • 2 Sprigs thyme Chopped parsley
  • 1 Bay leaf Chopped parsley

Harry's Version

  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 900 Grams shin or leg of beef f (cubed) - 1.9 Lbs.
  • 1 Bottle red wine (Burgundy or deep red)
  • 250 Grams baby carrots
  • 250 Grams baby onions (or shallots)
  • 3 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose)
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 300 ml Cegetable or chicken stock 1.2 cups
  • 4 Cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 Cinnamon sticks (optional)
  • 10 Grams butter 2.5 tablespoons
  • 250 Grams button mushrooms
  • 1 Herb Garni bouquet
  • 1 Celery stalk Chopped parsley
  • 3 Bay leaves Chopped parsley
  • Thyme sprigs Chopped parsley

Healthier- without sacrificing taste

Boeuf Bourguignon in pan  on wood table

With this side-by-side comparison, you can immediately see some things are obviously missing from this recipe. The bacon is gone, the excess of pearl onions is gone, and the liquid stock is much lighter. The amount of meat is half of what it was but is leaner and less fatty. While the amount of butter and natural fats are decreased, the number of vegetables and spices add to the flavor signature.

Julia’s original recipe takes 6 hours to render down, while Harry’s only takes a total of 3.5 hours total! What’s even more fascinating is that the original recipe serves 4 people while the new version serves a total of 6. If you want to get really technical, Julia’s version is 970 calories per serving, while the Eastwood variant is just 362 calories. Talk about a big difference in shaving calories without losing any flavor.

What is adding so much flavor?

The celery stalk that is sliced up within the herb Garni bouquet is just part of a standard flavor trick that is commonly used with chicken or vegetable stock. It’s a flavor enhancer that’s further enhanced by the addition of minced garlic and bay leaves. While the wine is simmering down, these flavors are enhanced even more as the lack of fat in the Eastwood recipe replaces fats from the bacon and the butter.

Wine also preserves the moisture of the meat but doesn’t make vegetables like the mushrooms, baby onions, and the baby carrots turn mushy. Another interesting fact is that Shin beef and the Spruce (leg of beef) are very tough lean cuts that need something to tenderize them. This is where the tannins help to tenderize these cuts of beef so they are as tender as they can get.

The cinnamon is not actually French but actually helps with the flavor of the beef and wine. These sticks need to be removed from this finished stew mixture so you don’t crack a tooth.

What this meal is served with

Boeuf Bourguignon served in pan with tamato,garlic on wood table ta

This dish is best served with mashed potatoes with light butter and salt. You can also consider lightly fried potatoes or fresh green beans that are sautéed French style. This means they are sautéed with garlic and parsley. Perhaps a combination of both will complete this meal as you like. Go figure that this recipe will likely become one of your traditional meals sometime soon. Don’t forget to choose a quality red wine, enjoy!

Poulet au Vinaigre Deux

Poulet au Vinaigre is a classic French dish that has its roots in the bistro world, much more so than the world of Cordon Bleu cooking. Although many versions do go with the classic approach to French cuisine and a cream based sauce, this dish has evolved in the last few decades to be a darling of the nouvelle world. As a result, we get to look at a much lighter, more approachable dish that is easy to replicate.

It brings flavor profiles from many directions. As the name suggests, it is chicken with vinegar, so you get that tanginess. There is some butter, so you get that richness. Garlic, shallot and dry white wine help with the piquant aspects, along with a nice dollop of tomato paste. Finally, fresh tarragon brings along garden flavors and the mild anise components for which it is famous.

Poulet-au-Vinaigre in white plate Featured image

Poulet au vinaigre recipe

Historically, this was a dish that was made from one cut up chicken, with light and dark meat, since that is the way the chicken came from the market or the yard. No we have the luxury of choices in the market, and for this we choose chicken thighs. With the bone, and with the skin. They cook evenly, have a bit more flavor, and are fatty enough to stay moist throughout the process.

Ingredients
  

  • 8 Chicken thighs
  • Kosher salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 Large clove shallot coarsely minced
  • 3 cloves garlic sliced
  • 1 Cup chicken stock
  • 1 Cup dry white wine
  • 1/3 Cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 ½ Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh tarragon minced

8 chicken-thighs in white dish

Start with eight chicken thighs and trim the skin to remove the major fatty stripes down the sides. Pat the chicken dry and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper on both sides. In a twelve inch skillet over medium heat add olive oil until it begins to glisten. Place the chicken skin side down and let it cook without moving for 8 minutes.

fry chicken thighs in pan

Flip the chicken over and repeat the process, allowing the bottom side to brown evenly, another 8 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside. Drain off all but two tablespoons of the oil from the pan.

 Ingredients-for-cook on wood table

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add your shallots and garlic and sauté moving constantly until golden brown. Add all the liquids, wine, stock and vinegar and use to deglaze the pan. Keep stirring to remove all the nicely colored bits and pieces in the skillet. Add the chicken back to the pan and place uncovered in the middle of the oven.

Poulet au vinaigre in pan a man checking tamprature

Check after 30 minutes, looking for 190 degrees internal temperature for the chicken. Remove the chicken and set aside, preferably on a warmed platter.

Whisk in the tomato paste and bring to a boil in pan

Return the skillet to a medium high heat on the stovetop. Whisk in the tomato paste and bring to a boil.

heat, whisk in butter and tarragon in pan

Continue simmering until the sauce has reduced down to around 1-1/2 cups. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and tarragon. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces and put the platter on the table for a classic bistro style meal.

Poulet au Vinaigre garnish-and-served in white dish

We used a little extra chopped tarragon for garnish and served with cubed and pan fried potato.

For a similar tutorial check out Glen and Friends in this video: