Roast Chicken Stuffed with Rice, Fresh Figs & Prosciutto

A recipe adapted from a simpler idea in Jacques Médecin’s Cuisine Niçoise. I am a bit funny about fruit with meat but I will make an exception for this luxurious summery number. This recipe is uniquely Provençal , I suppose, but there’s also something very unEuropean about a chicken stuffed with rice, nice fat chicken, weighing approximately 2kg/ 4 lb 8 oz olive oil a pinch of cayenne pepper basmati rice unsalted butter, plus a little extra, softened, for brushing large white onion, sliced into half-moons bay leaf sprig of thyme or winter savory garlic cloves, unpeeled pine kernels a fig leaf, if you have one fresh figs (small black provençal figs if you can find them) slices of prosciutto picked parsley leaves lemon salt and freshly ground black pepper nuts and fruit. Omit the prosciutto, add a few crushed allspice berries to the buttery onions, and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses towards the end, and you would be well on the way to the Levant rather than the western Mediterranean. Anyway, I digress. This is delicious.

Take the chicken out of the fridge, place in a roasting tin, rub it with olive oil and the cayenne pepper, then sprinkle with salt all over. Set aside while you prepare the stuffing.

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/ 425°F/gas mark 7.

To make the rice pilaf stuffing: carefully wash the rice in three changes of cold water, until the water runs almost clear. Soak the rice for 15 minutes in fresh cold water. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large, lidded, heavy-bottomed saucepan and slowly cook the sliced onion, herbs and garlic, adding a good pinch of salt. When the onion is soft but without colour, add the pine kernels and cook until lightly golden.

Drain the rice well, being careful not to break the delicate grains. Add the rice to the pot, another pinch of salt, and pour over boiling water to cover by 5mm/¼in.

If you have a fig leaf, lay it over the rice, which will impart a wonderfully fragrant flavour, but it’s not essential. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 2 minutes over a high heat, then turn down to the lowest possible heat and cook for another 4 minutes. Take the pan off the heat but leave the lid on for 10 minutes.

Recipe continues overleaf

Tartiflette

Along with raclette and fondue, tartiflette is one of Savoie’s most famous dishes, a gratin of potatoes, onions, bacon and the local Reblochon cheese. Its origins are a little confused. The name undoubtedly derives from the local patois for potato, tartiflâ , and tartiflette was first mentioned in a 1705 book written by the chef François Massialot, Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois : there a recipe more similar to the local péla , a simpler dish of potatoes, bacon and onions, named after potatoes – a red variety, between waxy and floury, is best lardons, smoked for preference knobs of unsalted butter onion, finely sliced glass of white wine crème fraîche (or 6 tbsp if you have no double cream) double cream (or 6 tbsp if you have no crème fraîche) olive oil a half-wheel (approx. 2 5 0g/ 9 oz) of reblochon cheese salt

SERVES 2–4 depending on levels of gluttony the spade-like long-handled pan in which it was cooked.

The modern recipe was developed as a marketing strategy by cheese producers looking to sell more of their Reblochon and this is the version that the ski resorts have made famous. Bravo lads! There’s no arguing that it’s delicious. This version follows fairly closely the ‘official’ recipe of the Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Reblochon.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/ gas mark 6.

Peel then cut the potatoes into 1.5-cm/ 5 ⁄8 -in pieces. Simmer them in a saucepan of lightly salted water until just cooked, then drain and allow to steam.

Meanwhile, fry the lardons in a roomy frying pan. When the fat is rendered, add a knob of butter and the onion slices with a little pinch of salt. Fry slowly until soft and golden brown. Add the white wine, simmer for a minute until reduced to 2 tablespoons, add the cream(s) and a good 2 tablespoons of water. Mix well, then pour this tasty mixture into a bowl and rinse and dry the pan.

When the potatoes have steamed dry they can be fried. Reheat the clean pan, add a little oil and the remaining knob of butter and sauté the potatoes over a medium-high heat. They should brown and crisp up nicely without being crunchy all the way though. Once browned, transfer the potatoes to a gratin dish big enough to fit all the potatoes without them spilling out the top. Pour over the onion/bacon mixture and mix a bit. Slice the cheese with the rind on and lay over the top of the gratin.

Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes, until the cheese has browned and melted fully. Eat hot, with a green salad and wine to wash it down.

Panade, literally ‘big bread thing’, is a kind of layered bread and onion soup-gratin hybrid. It can be wet, soft and yielding, or firmer and wobbly, like a savoury bread and butter pudding. Bake it firmer as a side dish, or wetter if it’s to be eaten on its own as a main course: either way it is very good.

At its simplest it is a quintessential mountain peasant dish: stale bread, onions and a few herbs baked with some stock or water, but made with good homemade stock, pancetta or smoked bacon, diced (optional, but very good) olive oil unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing yellow onions, thinly sliced into half-moons cloves garlic, thinly sliced a sprig of sage, picked bay leaves swiss chard or a large savoy cabbage stale sourdough loaf (approx. 6 00g/1lb 5 ½ oz), tough crusts removed, cut into rough 2. 5 -cm/1-in or 5 -cm/2-in pieces parmesan cheese, grated light chicken or vegetable stock (you may not need it all) gruyère, fontina, or other good melting mountain cheese salt, freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg enriched with greens and a little cheese, and given a lot of care, this is completely delicious. Any greens are good in this – Savoy cabbage, cavolo nero or chard – and it is a good vehicle for good mountain cheese like Fontina or Gruyère.

Be sure to use a good-quality sourdough bread with a firm crumb, and to scoop strategically from the dish so that each person has a nice ratio of custardy wobble to crisp edge.

Preheat the oven to 170°C fan/190°C/375°F/ gas mark 5.

Fry the bacon, if using, in a drizzle of olive oil in a deep pot. When golden brown and frazzled, remove and reserve. Add half of the butter, a little more olive oil, and the sliced onions to the pot. Season with salt, stir well, and cook slowly, for at least 30 minutes, until the onions are very soft and sweet but with little colour. Halfway through, add the sliced garlic, sage leaves and bay. Cover with a lid if it looks like the onions are drying out.

Meanwhile, blanch the chard. Trim the bottom of the stalks, separate the ribs from the leaves, and cut the ribs into 2-cm/3/4-in pieces. Cook the stalks in boiling salted water for about 2 minutes, until soft through, then remove with a slotted spoon. Add the chard leaves whole and boil for 10 seconds. Drain both leaves and stalks and set aside to cool.

To assemble the panade , grease a deepsided baking dish with butter. Start with a layer of cooked onions, then follow with a layer of bread cubes, a drizzle of olive oil and a layer of cooked chard. Season the chard layer with a touch of nutmeg, grated Parmesan and black pepper.