Traditionally, this is a dish made with an old chicken who is no longer useful for laying eggs. As such, it would be cooked for a long time, nearly all day, to render the tough old bird tender. But, as most of us are going to go out and buy a chicken raised for eating... we will limit the cooking time to that needed by a young bird.

Serves 6

We begin with our favorite stuffing for the chicken (which can also be made simply for a roast duck or turkey).

Ingredients for the stuffing:

• 400 grams sausage meat (1 lb)
• 25 grams mushrooms | a good handful, we use cepes(portobello/bolets), chanterelles, black trumpets
• 100 grams (1/2 cup) cooked rice
• 1/2 onion minced
• 1/3 cup cognac
• a few grates of fresh nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• handful of moistened bread
• One chicken, the best you can buy-- organic, free-range, or in French "biologique fermier"

-- I love the fact that in French supermarkets you have an extraordinary selection of fowl, and on the packaging of the numerous fermier chickens, you learn with what the animal has been fed (100% vegetable, grains and vitamins, of which 80% is grains) how many days he's lived (at least 81), by whom it was raised, and by whom it was slaughtered and prepared for sale, and the date of slaughter. The chickens here are smaller than most I find in the United States, but firmer and much richer in flavor.--

For the broth:

• 12 carrots peeled and cut coarsely
• 6 potatoes, peeled and chopped in half
• 3 turnips, peeled and quartered
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed
• 3 leeks, washed and chopped coarsely (leave in most of the green)
• optional - a few cabbage leaves
• a couple sprigs of thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 liters/a gallon of water or enough to cover the bird and the vegetables.

For a light sauce:
Make a mayonnaise with one egg yolk, a teaspoon of mustard, and a half cup oil. Whisk together in a small bowl, the egg yolk and the mustard, then while whisking, gently pour in a steady stream of oil, whisk continually till you have a firm emulsion. Add a pinch of salt. After the bird has cooked, you will add some of the broth from the pot.

For the stuffing:
Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing together, prepare your chicken by removing the giblets, briefly washing it under running water, and drying with paper towels. Stuff the fowl and then tie up the opening with string.

In a large saucepan with a lid, put in all your vegeables, herbs and salt and your chicken, cover with water. Put on the lid and put on a high flame till it comes to a gentle boil, turn down the flame to medium-low and simmer for 2 hours for a young bird, 4-5 hours for a tough old bird.

To serve:

Remove the bird from the pot, and place on a separate platter. In France, fowl are quite carefully carved in 4 sections, before being divied up into more. As you can see from the photo, Erick slices down the back bone to peel away the whole breast meat from either side. He slices and peels back the thigh joints to separate the dark meat, and places these large morsels on another platter. He cuts these then in half. The stuffing has been revealed, and can be simply spooned out.

To finish your sauce: Take the mayonnaise and whisk in a tablespoon of flour, then while whisking, ladle in a bit of the broth from your sauce pan, ladle in only enough for a sauce that pours like heavy cream.

On your guest's plate, place two carrots, a potatoe, a turnip, a couple pieces of leek and perhaps a cabbage leaf, a morsel of chicken from his/her preferred section, and a spoonful of the stuffing. Ladle a small quantity of sauce over the chicken, and place before him/her.

Give each of your guests a separate soup bowl and ladle them broth directly from the pot.