Serves 4

Ingredients: 

1 Poulet de Bresse (jointed: drum, thigh, wing and breast in half on the bone)

2kg Maris piper potatoes (peeled and sliced into 2cm thick slices)

400g of Reblochon cheese 

150g pancetta (cut into lardons)

2 onions (sliced)

125ml white wine

150ml chicken stock 

100ml double cream

20g thyme (½ chopped)

2 cloves of garlic 

Salt and pepper

50g butter 

Method :

The Tartiflette will take the longest so get that going first. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Start by getting a medium size saucepan on a medium high heat and add a small amount of butter and a glug of oil. Add the sliced onions and pancetta and cook for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally.

Take another pan full of water and add in the sliced potatoes and a good pinch of salt and cook for a couple of minutes until the potatoes slightly soften.

When the onions and pancetta are cooked down, add the chopped thyme and white wine and cook off the wine. Add the stock and the par boiled potatoes and then the cream and season well.

Take a baking dish that will hold all the contents of the pot and add half the mixture in and add a layer of the sliced Reblochon cheese, add the rest of the mixture and top with the remainder of the cheese.

Cover with a layer of baking parchment then cover with foil and bake for 20 mins covered and then a further 20 mins uncovered.

Now to cook the Poulet de Bresse, put a large frying pan on a medium heat and season the chicken well, add it skin side down to the pan to get some colour on the skin. Do this in stages and don’t overcrowd the pan as this will only make crisping up the skin harder.

Once all the chicken has been coloured nicely add to the pan along with a generous amount of butter, 2 cloves of garlic and some thyme and start to baste the chicken with the foaming butter. Continue to do this until the breast is reaching a temp of 72 degrees C and the legs are around 80 degrees C, if the breast is ready first just remove from the pan and keep warm.

Once all the chicken is cooked, place it on a warmed tray and loosely cover with foil.

Remove the foil and parchment from the Tartiflette with about 30 mins to go and turn the heat up to 200 C and colour well.

Now it’s time to serve, add ½ a breast and a piece of the leg on each plate and then add a generous portion of the Tartiflette and spoon over some of the resting juices from the chicken and serve with a nice glass of Riesling or Pinot noir.