Julia Child's Poulet Saute (Sauteed Chicken)

For lunch today I made Julia Child's Poulet Saute (Sauteed Chicken) with one chicken thigh. The recipe is on page 254 in her cookbook. According to Julia, a true saute has the chicken cooking entirely in butter or oil; the bird never touches liquid until the very end. This gives the bird that nice crunchy brown exterior.

To cook this dish, just put some butter in a pot or casserole dish, turn up the heat to moderately high, and wait until the butter's foaming starts to subside. Next, place a towel-dried chicken thigh (or any other part of the bird) in the butter for a few minutes, then turn. Make sure the chicken browns on both sides and the butter doesn't burn.

Season the chicken with herbs (I used basil, tarragon and thyme), salt and pepper. For the next 15 minutes, turn down the heat to moderate and cover the pot. Baste the chicken 2 or 3 times during this time period and turn occasionally. Make sure the butter doesn't burn.

Remove the chicken. For the sauce, I just added some dry white wine and a bit of beef stock and butter to the pot. I deglazed the pan and poured the sauce over the chicken. Bon appetite!

Note: Of course, this is a condensed version of Julia's recipe. Hers is two and a half pages long. Buy the book if you haven't already, and let me know which recipes you like to make! :)