The Hen is also known as the “big sister” of the chicken and will therefore have spent more time in the open air. Its flesh is tender and extremely tasty! Prepared this way, Hen à la verbena is a family dish to try without hesitation.
First, here is the list of the different ingredients you will need to follow to prepare the Hen à la Verbena that serves 4 to 6 people
- 1 Hen ready to cook
- 3 liter or 5.5 pints fresh poultry broth (or reconstituted with 3 cubes)
- 1 onion studded with 1 clove
- 1 leek
- 1 carrot
- 1 bouquet garni rich in thyme
- 4 cloves of Lautrec also known as pink garlic
- 5 sprigs dried lemon verbena or 1 handful of dried leaves
- 250ml or 8 oz whipping cream
- coarse gray salt, peppercorns and flower of salt
Now, here are the few steps you will need to follow to cook this Hen à la Verbena with a preparation time of 20 minutes and a cooking time of 1h30
Pour the broth into a large stewpot, add the peeled, washed and cut onion, leek and carrot, the bouquet garni, the garlic and verbena, coarse gray salt, peppercorns and bring to the boil.
Dip the Hen into the broth, cover and let simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes.
Remove the Hen from the broth, keep it warm and reduce the broth by three-quarters over high heat.
Filter the reduced broth, possibly keeping a few verbena leaves, add the cream, fleur de sel, freshly ground pepper and the Hen cut into pieces. Reheat gently and serve with a creamy Parmesan gratin with Polenta
You can prepare this recipe the day before, keep the cut poultry cool, wrapped in film so that it does not dry out. This will allow you to degrease the broth.
Lemon verbena can be bought in herbalists boutique or organic stores, if you don’t have any at home in a corner of your garden or balcony it is easy to grow.
