Chicken au Poivre
There’s a reason Steak au Poivre has remained a French bistro classic: plenty of cracked black pepper, a beautifully browned crust and that rich, creamy sauce made for mopping up with something good. This recipe draws inspiration from Steak au Poivre, swapping the steak for chicken and bringing the whole thing together in one Dutch casserole. The chicken is browned first until the skin is deeply golden, then roasted in a sauce of cracked peppercorns, garlic, thyme, stock, Dijon and cream. The result is proper comfort food - juicy roast chicken with crisp golden skin and a peppery, savoury sauce that tastes considerably more complicated than it is.
Serve it straight from the casserole with buttery mash and greens — and definitely something to catch the sauce.
Serves 4 | Prep 15 minutes | Cook approximately 50 minutes
Ingredients
1 whole free-range chicken, approximately 1.8–2 kg, jointed into 8 pieces. You can also use chicken maryland (1 per person)
1 tbsp olive oil
40 g unsalted butter
1½ tbsp black peppercorns, roughly crushed
1 brown shallot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
125 ml dry white wine
250 ml chicken stock
250 ml thickened cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4–5 sprigs fresh thyme, plus extra to serve
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced.
Pat the chicken pieces thoroughly dry with paper towel and season generously with salt. Go a little easier than usual with the ground pepper at this stage — there is plenty more coming.
Place a large, heavy-based Dutch casserole over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and half the butter. Working in batches if necessary, add the chicken skin-side down and cook for about 5–6 minutes, without moving it too much, until the skin is deeply golden. Turn and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining butter, crushed peppercorns and shallot and cook for 2 minutes until the shallot begins to soften. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 30 seconds.
Pour in the wine, scraping up all those excellent browned bits from the bottom of the casserole. Simmer for 2–3 minutes until reduced by roughly half.
Add the chicken stock, cream and Dijon and stir to combine. Bring just to a gentle simmer, then return the chicken to the casserole skin-side up, keeping as much of that beautifully browned skin above the sauce as possible.
Transfer the casserole, uncovered, to the oven and roast for approximately 30–35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the thickest pieces reach 75°C internally.
Remove from the oven and rest for 5–10 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If you'd like it thicker, remove the chicken and simmer the sauce on the stovetop for a few minutes before returning it to the casserole.
Serve with buttery mash potatoes, steamed green beans or broccolini. A crusty bread is essential because that sauce is not being behind!
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These fresh, plump, accredited free-range birds are delivered from the farm near Bendigo. Air-chilled for better skin crispness, you are not paying for excess water. These are delicious and ethical chooks and will make you the perfect Sunday roast.
SMALL: Approx. weight 1.6kg
LARGE: Approx. weight 1.9kg
Accredited Free-Range | No Antibiotics or Hormones | Family-owned Bendigo Farm
The Maryland refers to the cut which includes the whole drumstick and the thigh - skin on and bone in. It is a terrific, inexpensive cut, that gives maximum flavour. You can roast it like mini chicken roasts, use in casseroles, or one-pot wonder meals.
Approx. 280g each piece. Sold per kg.
Accredited Free-Range | No Antibiotics or Hormones | Family-owned Bendigo Farm
Chicken au Poivre
There’s a reason Steak au Poivre has remained a French bistro classic: plenty of cracked black pepper, a beautifully browned crust and that rich, creamy sauce made for mopping up with something good. This recipe draws inspiration from Steak au Poivre, swapping the steak for chicken and bringing the whole thing together in one Dutch casserole. The chicken is browned first until the skin is deeply golden, then roasted in a sauce of cracked peppercorns, garlic, thyme, stock, Dijon and cream. The result is proper comfort food - juicy roast chicken with crisp golden skin and a peppery, savoury sauce that tastes considerably more complicated than it is.
Serve it straight from the casserole with buttery mash and greens — and definitely something to catch the sauce.
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced.
- Pat the chicken pieces thoroughly dry with paper towel and season generously with salt. Go a little easier than usual with the ground pepper at this stage — there is plenty more coming.
- Place a large, heavy-based Dutch casserole over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and half the butter. Working in batches if necessary, add the chicken skin-side down and cook for about 5–6 minutes, without moving it too much, until the skin is deeply golden. Turn and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining butter, crushed peppercorns and shallot and cook for 2 minutes until the shallot begins to soften. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Pour in the wine, scraping up all those excellent browned bits from the bottom of the casserole. Simmer for 2–3 minutes until reduced by roughly half.
- Add the chicken stock, cream and Dijon and stir to combine. Bring just to a gentle simmer, then return the chicken to the casserole skin-side up, keeping as much of that beautifully browned skin above the sauce as possible.
- Transfer the casserole, uncovered, to the oven and roast for approximately 30–35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the thickest pieces reach 75°C internally.
- Remove from the oven and rest for 5–10 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If you'd like it thicker, remove the chicken and simmer the sauce on the stovetop for a few minutes before returning it to the casserole.
- Serve with buttery mash potatoes, steamed green beans or broccolini. A crusty bread is essential because that sauce is not being behind!
