Until I began this blog I had no idea that the dish I am about to describe was poached chicken. My mother called this dish “chicken bottom, “ cooked on the gas as opposed to baking, boiling or frying. Poaching was for French restaurants , which during my growing up years were all treyf and even if there had been a kosher one, my family wouldn’t have patronized it.
.Why? Anyone with half a brain in his head knew that restaurants were for unfortunate people who didn’t know how to cook like my mother.. The truth is that Mommy made some cool stuff, including this recipe , a classical poach, worthy of Julia Child, had she been Hungarian. Not only is this yummy—the chicken steeped in a shallow aromatic broth, but it’s easy. I’d estimate less than 10 minutes prep time, shorter than the wait at an average falafel stand, though I don’t do it quite the way my mother did..
Like all good Europeans my mother began every chicken recipe by cleaning it which meant plunging the fowl into a huge pot of boiling water until the hair follicles got goose bumps. Then she took out a giant butcher’s knife and scraped every last remaining pin feather until the bird was as hairless as a Buddhist monk.
This was standard practice in prewar Europe. Until recently I assumed that was for cleanliness reasons but I later discovered that there was a religious overlay to this practice. The boiling was a humra, an extra stringency endorsed by the Rambam, Moses Maimonides himself to make sure that every last drop of blood was out of the bird.
I don’t pre-boil. I used to but I gave it up, because my husband doesn’t require it—as I said before, most Jews, even extremely pious ones don’t do this. I also feared that preboiling took away some of the flavor. All that said, the question still remains—what is the right way to clean a chicken..
According to the US Department of Agriculture it’s snap. All you need to do is open the package in the sink and blot it with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
Whatever you do, don’t ever wash your chicken under the tap.. Rather than making the chicken clean, you’ll just spread germs all over the sink, the knife the cutting board and your hands.. The only way eliminate chicken bacteria is by cooking the bird fully.
Separate raw chicken from other foods and wash anything that touches it with plenty of soap and warm water. Dry with paper towel instead of a dish towel.
My mother’s poached chicken.
6 chicken bottoms (thigh and drumstick together in one piece)
2-10 cloves of garlic minced depending on how garlicky you like it.
1-2 small onions minced
10 shakes of freshly cracked black pepper (or 1/8 t ground black pepper)
½ t of paprika (optional)
½ t salt
Place chicken skin side down in a shallow frying pan with a tight lid.
Add 2- 21/2 cups of cold water. There should be approximately 1 inch (2 cm) of water on the bottom of the pan.
Cook on medium to low flame for 50 minutes until one hour until the juices run clear.(while the chicken cooks check periodically to see that the water doesn’t evaporate. If you see the water getting low add more) Enjoy
The poaching liquid makes a wonderful gravy. Serve with cook grains or a boiled or baked potato and a salad for a complete meal. It’s also good cold and it freezes well though it tastes best when fresh. Enjoy.