When a chicken is cooked in the pot in place of the beef the dish is known as poule-au-pot, and the resulting bouillon becomes a fine-flavored chicken stock.
Poule-au-Pot (Chicken Stock from Chicken and Vegetables)
Select a fowl weighing 5 or more pounds, clean, and tie the ends of the legs to the tail. Put the chicken in a large soup kettle and cover it with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the fowl, discard the water, and clean the kettle. Return the fowl to the kettle, cover it with A ½ quarts water, and add 1 tablespoon salt. Chicken feet, cleaned, scalded, and skinned, may also be added for extra flavor and are necessary if the bouillon is to be used cold and you want it to jell. Bring the liquid to a boil, constantly removing the scum which rises to the surface. When the scum has ceased to rise, cover the kettle and simmer for 1 ½ hours. Add 1 carrot, 2 leeks, 1 onion stuck with a clove, 3 stalks of celery, and 3 sprays of parsley. Bring the liquid again to a boil and simmer for 1 ½ hours lunger. Remove the chicken and strain the bouillon through cheesecloth.
To serve poule-au-pot, the bouillon is served first, then the chicken is carved and served with the vegetables and freshly cooked rice. Generally a cream sauce is served separately. The remaining bouillon, or chicken stock, is reserved for future soups and sauces.
The beef or chicken that is left over from a pot-au-feu or a poule-au-pot should not be put back into the bouillon. It should he covered, to keep it from drying out, and stored in the refrigerator.
There are two simple and very popular ways of serving the beef bouillon from pot-au-fou and the simple brown stock; namely crofites au pot and that soup which is so popular here in this country as well as in France—onion soup gratitiee. Cratiné is the French word for any dish that is covered with either bread-crumbs or grated cheese, or a mixture of both, and cooked for a few minutes in a hot oven or under the broiler flame until the topping is browned.
Croites au Pot
Remove the carrots, turnip, and leeks that were cooked in the pot-au-feu and cut them into pieces about 1 inch long. Skim the fat from the strained bouillon, leaving in it just enough to make a few tiny glistening beads over the surface of the hot soup. Remove the marrow from the bones that were cooked in the pot-au-feu and spread it on pieces of the crust of French bread. Reheat the bouillon, add the vegetables, and pass the marrow-spread crusts separately to be eaten in the soup.
Onion Soup Greitinee
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan and in it sauté very slowly 4 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced, until the onions are soft and golden but not brown. Add 1 teaspoon flour and cook a minute or two longer. Add 2 quarts brown or beef stock. Simmer 10 minutes and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Turn the soup into an ovenproof casserole (or individual ones) and arrange slices of crusty bread on top. Sprinkle each slice with grated Parmesan cheese and cook in a hot oven (450° F.) until the cheese is melted and browned. The onions may be strained out before serving if desired.
Two more recipes will show you how the basic bouillons are used as stocks in making other soups. One is oxtail soup made with beef stock; the other is a country-style soup made with chicken stock. These examples merely point the way. Now that you know the technique of making stock you can make endless variations to suit your own taste and use any combination of vegetables that are available to you.
Oxtail Soup (Queue à la Parisienne)
Put 1 ½ pounds each of veal shin bone and beef shin bone in a roasting pan,spread over the bones 1 large onion, peeled and sliced, and cook in a hot oven (400° F.) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until brown. Meanwhile parboil an oxtail, cut into small pieces, for 5 minutes and drain. Put the hones in a large soup kettle, add 4 quarts beef stock, and bring the stock to a boil. Skim well. Tie the oxtail in a cheesecloth bag and add it. Add 1 pound of chopped lean beef, 1 large carrot, 3 leeks, 2 stalks of celery, 2 tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon thyme, 2 tablespoons salt, and 6 peppercorns. Bring the liquid again to a boil and skim until the scum ceases to rise. Cover the kettle and simmer the soup for 4 to 5 hours, Remove the oxtail and discard the cheesecloth bag. Fit a piece of muslin into a large strainer and put in the muslin ½ teaspoon each of rose-mary. summer savor, sage, and basil. Pour the soup through the strainer over the herbs, return it to the heat, and bring to a boil. Correct the seasoning with salt and add the oxtail, small balls of cooked carrots and turnips, and ½ cup dry sherry.
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