Wednesday, October 15, 2008

That Cookbook Thing II Poulet au Porto, or Dinde au Porto, or a good use for turkey leftovers

We're back from a little longer than usual break with our fourth Julia Child dish for That Cookbook Thing (part deux). Up this round is Poulet au Porto (Roast Chicken Steeped with Port Wine, Cream and Mushrooms). I'll wait a second while you wipe the drool off your chin. You take Julia's roast chicken, and serve it with a most delicious sounding sauce of port wine, mushrooms, cream and cognac. I know!

Even though we had plenty of time to make this recipe, I still missed the selected posting date. I just couldn't get organized before or after our holiday, and then all of a sudden Thanksgiving was upon us and how could I make a whole chicken when we'll be eating turkey in a few days and how can I make a chicken now when we've got 85 pounds of leftover turkey in the fridge? Since I'd already missed the posting date I almost skipped this one entirely, but those in the group who'd already made it seemed so pleased with it I didn't want to miss out. And then it hit me - I could kill 2 birds (hee!) with one stone and make the dish with leftover turkey!

So I did that tonight. If you follow the recipe properly, you roast your chicken before starting the sauce. The sauce itself takes about 30 minutes to prepare and is pretty straightforward, although you will dirty many a pan. I made the sauce and while it was having its last simmer, warmed up some turkey in the microwave and then continued with the recipe. It was wonderfully delicious; creamy and mushroomy and boozy. A perfect cool weather dinner.


Not pretty, but pretty tasty.


I'd make this again in a heartbeat, both my leftover turkey way and the true way. And if you'd like to try it, here's the recipe, posted over at Mikes.

Bon Appetit!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting! You are always welcome, early, late or on time.

Sara said...

thanks mikey! this was a fabulous recipe. i promise you i'll make it the Julia way next time.

Ruth Daniels said...

It is the most outrageously delicious sauce ever. do you think we could just make the sauce and forego the chicken/turkey?

Anonymous said...

Yum, this sounds like such a deliciously rich recipe, great with a strong tasting meat like turkey. I'd throw in some green beans on the side for good measure!

Shaun said...

Sara, darling ~ I think that the substitution of the meat is not a big concern. In fact, it shows the flexibility of the sauce and indeed of many of the recipes contained in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This is a wonderful use of leftover turkey!

Auberge chez Richard said...

That looks excellent if I may say so and some of my readers have asked me to cook that very same dish. I was going to cook a more complex gratin that will be for later. If I may ask, what wine(s) did you pair with your plat? I am thinking along the lines of a nice white Burgundy (Pouilly-fuissé)or a Chablis-type. Not ruling out something from the Languedoc- Roussillon. But will see.