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Chicken Dishes

Chicken Basquaise (Poulet Basquaise)

Chicken Basquaise is bone-in chicken thighs in a slow-simmered sauce of red and green peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, white wine and piment d'Espelette, built on rendered lardons. Half the thighs are braised in the sauce ahead of time; the other half are crisped skin-side down on the day and laid on top. The recipe serves 14; change the portions and units below and the amounts update.

  • Serves 14
  • Make ahead
  • Sauce simmers 30 min
  • French (Basque)

Where Chicken Basquaise comes from ↓

Method

  1. Sauce: render the lardons (400 g) in a wide pan over medium heat until the fat runs and the edges brown. Remove the lardons and leave the fat in the pan.

  2. In that fat, soften the onions (2 onions) and garlic (1 head) for 10 minutes.

  3. Add the red and green peppers (6, 2) and cook for another 10 minutes until soft with browned edges.

  4. Stir in the piment d'Espelette (60 ml) and the tomato purée (2 tbsp) and cook for 1 minute.

  5. Add the white wine (350 ml) and let it bubble for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol.

  6. Add the tomatoes (2 kg), stock (1.2 litres) and bouquet garni, and return the lardons. Season with salt and black pepper.

  7. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until it reduces slightly. Remove the bouquet garni before cooling.

  8. Chicken, skinless half (cooked in advance): season the skinless thighs (14 thighs) with salt, black pepper and a little piment d'Espelette.

  9. Brown them well in a little of the rendered fat over medium-high heat until golden on both sides, working in batches. Do not cook them through. Remove and set aside.

  10. Nestle the browned thighs into the simmering sauce. Cover and cook gently until the thickest part reaches 74–76 °C (about 20–30 minutes); check with a probe.

  11. Cool the thighs in the sauce, then refrigerate everything for a couple of days.

  12. On the day: reheat the sauce with the skinless thighs over low heat, covered, until hot through (about 15–20 minutes). Keep at a bare simmer, and loosen with a splash of stock if it has thickened too much.

  13. Cook the skin-on thighs (14 thighs): place them skin-side down in a completely dry, cold pan and set the heat to medium-low. Do not move them for the first 10 minutes; the skin needs uninterrupted contact to render. The fat will start to sizzle around minute 5–6.

  14. By 10–12 minutes the skin should be deep golden and pulling away from the pan on its own; if it sticks, it is not ready. Flip once and cook the flesh side for 2–3 minutes, to 74 °C in the thickest part. Work in 3–4 rounds, reusing the rendered fat each time.

  15. To serve, lay the crisped thighs skin-side up on top of the reheated sauce.

Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.

Chef’s notes

  • The sauce and the skinless thighs are better made a couple of days ahead: the flavours settle and the dish reheats well. Only the skin-on thighs are cooked on the day.
  • For crisp skin, start the thighs in a dry, cold pan and leave them alone. They release from the pan by themselves when the skin is ready.
  • Use a probe thermometer: 74 °C in the thickest part of each thigh.
  • Keep the rendered fat from the lardons and the skin-on thighs; it browns the next batch and adds flavour.
  • Substitute tip: if you can't get piment d'Espelette, use sweet paprika with a small pinch of cayenne pepper instead. It is not the same flavour, but it is the usual stand-in; Espelette is mild and fruity rather than fiery.

A bit of history: from the Basque Country

Poulet basquaise comes from the Basque Country (Pays Basque) in the far south-west of France, on the Atlantic coast beside the Pyrenees and the Spanish border. It is a home-cooking dish rather than a chef's invention, and every family has its own version.

Its sauce is close to piperade, the region's best-known dish: peppers, onions and tomatoes cooked down slowly, often with garlic and a little cured ham. Sweet peppers and tomatoes came to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century and became staples of Basque cooking.

The signature seasoning is piment d'Espelette, a mild, fruity red chilli grown around the village of Espelette and dried into a deep red powder. It has had protected-origin status since 2000, and strings of the drying peppers hanging on house fronts are a famous sight in the area each autumn. Many cooks add jambon de Bayonne, the local dry-cured ham; this version uses lardons for the same smoky, salty base.

Shopping list for 14 portions

Meat & poultry

Fruit & veg

Tins, jars & stock

Wine & drinks

Fresh herbs

Store cupboard (check you have)

Converted from the owner's Poulet Basquaise recipe (14 portions).