Roast Chicken With Crème Fraîche And Herbs
Recipe by Mimi Thorisson
Mimi Thorisson has the kind of life many people dream of, living in the French countryside with her husband - an Icelandic photographer -and their 7 children and 14 dogs. Growing up between Hong Kong and Paris she was always passionate about food and after a career in fashion, media and television, she moved to the countryside with her family where her love for cooking turned into more than just a hobby. She has presented her own cookery show and written a bestselling book - A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse - published by Random House. Her blog, Manger, is where she documents her country cooking exploits. We’ve taken an extract from one of the recipe stories inspired by a day spent with her family in Blaignan-Médoc. Over to Mimi:
“For the main course, I made my family’s favorite chicken dish. Roast chicken with crème fraîche, garlic, shallots and herbs. I love the simplicity of the recipe. The result is the softest, juiciest chicken, filled with all the aromas of a rustic French kitchen. Who would have known that crème fraîche could work such magic in theoven.”
© Mimi Thorisson
Ingredients
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350F.
2. Take out the chicken approx 30 minutes before cooking so it is at room temperature. Mix crème fraîche withfinely chopped garlic, parsley, thyme, sea-salt and black pepper. Spoon half of the mixture inside the cavity of the chicken. Truss the chicken securely with kitchen twine. Rub the remaining cream all over the chicken (make sure to rub under the thighs and wings). The cream must be thickly spread on chicken (see photo). Sprinkle 1/2 tsp sea-salt on top of chicken.
3. Transfer to preheated oven and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Check pan halfway and add 2-3 tbsp of water if the sauce in the pan starts to dry out.
3. Serve with mashed potatoes. After boiling peeled potatoes (I count 2 medium potatoes per person) add one egg yolk and 30 g/ 2 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp crème fraîche, salt to season).
Recipe from mimithorisson.com