Ingredients
- 200 g haricots verts, halved
- 2 tablespoons cooking butter
- 2 organic chicken legs, approx. 250 g each
- pepper, salt
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
- handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced
- tin of flageolets, drained weight 265 g
- plenty of finely chopped tarragon, chives,
- chervil and parsley
- also a whole sprig of each
Listen to the hymn of praise of the unsurpassed Waverly Root in the preface of the book Herbs and Spices (1980), which I briefly summarize: Herbs and spices are the poetry of our food. Unlike grain, meat, rice, and fish, they appeal not only to the taste but also to our sense of smell. Try sowing herbs on your garden path so that you enter a fragrant cloud as you walk. The famous Australian landscape architect Edna Walling underscored this point: you have not lived if you have never lain flat on your middle on a thyme lawn. At the same time, herbs are also the music of food… the piccolo sounds of chives, the trumpet blast of chili peppers…the viola has heard of saffron, the cello of onions…All together a full symphony of tastes.
In our recipe, the French ‘fines herbes’ accentuate the delicate flavor of both bean varieties. The name flageolets is a French mispronunciation of the Latin name phaseolus, perhaps also stemming from the comparison with music on the tongue. It concerns a legume that grows mainly in France and is shelled and dried in the shade before it is ripe. I have never seen these beans offered fresh myself, but they dance on your tongue even when canned.
- Cook the haricots verts in an open pan in plenty of boiling water until just tender (7-10 min.). Rinse with cold water.
- Brown the cooking butter in a large frying pan. Season the chicken legs all around with salt and pepper and brown gently. Transfer to a microwave dish with the rounded side down. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes at 500 Watts. Let stand for 10 minutes. Another method: brown as above, roast for 40-50 minutes with the lid slightly ajar, turning regularly, then remove from the pan briefly.
- Sauté the spring onions and tomato slices in the chicken fat until soft. Warm rinsed flageolets and drained beans in this mixture. Place the chicken legs on top. Just before serving, sprinkle the vegetables with a border of herbs. Place the whole sprigs with the chicken.
- Wine: Shiraz
Menu suggestion:
- Starter: coarsely chopped Little Gem lettuce dressed with vinaigrette topped with rosettes of Serrano ham and olives filled with paprika. Garnished with plenty of basil. Wine: Pinot Blanc.
- Dessert: thin slices of orange, peeled down to the flesh, with Cointreau and mint sprigs.