Poulet Saute Bourguigonne

This is another recipe from Boulestin, adapted from one for a young chicken weighing about a kilo (size 10) to a larger bird with a proportionately longer cooking time. The secret to good presentation seems to be not to turn the chicken once it's simmering; otherwise the skin and flesh take on a purplish hue from the wine. If using a commercial bouquet, remove it about halfway through to avoid an overly strong, possibly bitter flavour. Boulestin's chicken is sauteed in burgundy which, in Australia, is now called pinot noir.

Poulet Saute Bourguigonne

I chicken, size 14 or 16, cut into 7 or 8 pieces - drumsticks, thighs, wings and breast
50g butter
2 rashers bacon, thinly sliced
8 small onions
Fresh parsley, thyme and a bay leaf tied into a bouquet, or a commercial bouquet garni
1 glass red wine, preferably pinot noir
125g mushrooms
Salt, pepper

In a large frypan, saute the chicken pieces, onions and bacon in butter heated to the foaming stage for 2 or 3 minutes only. Turn the pieces, put in salt, pepper, a bouquet and a glass of red wine, preferably pinot noir.

Cover and simmer on a low heat for 40 minutes. Then add the mushrooms, which have been sliced and cooked in butter for a few minutes, remove the bouquet and let the dish simmer 5 minutes more.

This is a dish with a short sauce. It goes well with the wine in which it has been cooked, in this case a Port Phillip Estate 2010 Pinot Noir from Victoria's Mornington Peninsular.

Serves 4.

Episode 8 - Away with the Fairies

Miss Lavender's garden apartment has a path flanked with garden gnomes leading to the door, her taste in interior design tends towards pink and fairies, and she writes and illustrates the sort of children's stories that end with a moral. No wonder she is murdered.

In the course of her investigations, Phryne Fisher takes a job at the women's magazine which published Miss Lavender's stories (because mothers expected them) and her agony aunt responses to reader's letters (who expected her grim Presbyterian rectitude).

Between writing fashion notes, interviewing Miss Lavender's fellow tenants and waiting with increasing alarm for the return of her lover Lin Chung from a silk-buying trip to Shanghai, Phryne barely has time for the occasional salad lunch at the Adventuresses Club. Her one proper dinner at home is spoiled when she learns that Lin Chung is being held hostage by pirates.

Like Phryne's dinner of soup, poulet ragout and apple charlotte, the menu for tonight's episode tends towards green and pink: 

Green Pea Soup

Poulet Saute Bourguignonne

Raspberry Souffle