Vincent Price Chicken Pyramide (Volaille Pyramide)

This elegant recipe is from “A Treasury of Great Recipes” by Vincent Price. He says, “A marvelous trick this, to loosen the skin of poultry and insert seasonings, butter, or in this case, truffles between skin and flesh.” It is from the old Restaurant de la Pyramide in France.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 55 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  large truffle
• 1  small truffle
• 1  large roasting chicken
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 8  leeks, white part only, washed well
• 8  young carrots
• 2  cups dry white wine
• 6  cups  chicken stock
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon peppercorn

• Sauce

• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 1⁄2 cup flour
• 1  small onion
• 3  cloves
• 1  small carrot
• 1  tablespoon  cold butter
• 3  egg yolks
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Thinly slice the large and small truffles.
2. Loosen the skin at the neck of the chicken and insert your hand all the way down, underneath the skin, as far as the narrow part of the drumstick. You want to carefully separate the skin from the flesh of the chicken.
3. Insert the truly slices, using slices from the small truffle in the points of the breasts and narrow truffle slices for the legs. Use slices from the large truffle over the breast, thick, and thick parts of the drumsticks. Secure the neck skin beneath the wings tips and truss the chicken.
4. In a large, lidded Dutch oven (a large Le Creuset pot works well), melt 2 tablespoons butter and add the white part of the leeks and the young carrots. Place the truffled chicken on top of the vegetables, and cook over medium heat, turning the chicken until it is lightly browned on all sides. Place the chicken on its side.
5. Add the white wine, chicken stock, salt, and peppercorns, and bring to a boil. Cover tightly (this is where the Le Creuset pot works especially well, as the lid is heavy) and braise for 90 minutes, turning the chicken over at 20 minute intervals, and adding more stock if necessary to keep the chicken at least half-covered at all times. After 90 minutes, turn off the heat, keep covered, and keep the chicken hot in the stock.
6. To make the sauce, in a saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter, then gradually stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 3-5 minutes, without allowing the mixture to brown.
7. Gradually stir in 3 cups of the broth from the cooked chicken (make sure not to include any peppercorns), then cook, stirring, until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Stick the cloves in the small onion, then put it and the carrot in the sauce and cook over low heat for 1 hour. Remove the carrot, onion, and cloves.
8. Stir in, bit by bit, 1 tablespoon cold butter.
9. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, then stir in about 3 tablespoons of the hot sauce. Add this tempered mixture gradually to the remaining sauce, stirring briskly, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir, adjust to taste, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. Carefully remove the chicken from the remaining broth and place it in the center of a warm serving platter. Surround it with the leeks and carrots, and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve and enjoy!
11. Note: cooking the chicken on its side does seem a bit unusual, but that’s how Mr. Price's original recipe reads. I believe that it’s perhaps to keep the legs from separating from the body during cooking.