Poulet à la Gaston Gérard (ou poulet aux moines)

 This chicken recipe is from Dijon, France. The wife of the mayor accidentally put mustard in her chicken dish. To save it she added wine, créme fraîche, and cheese. That saved the dish and she named it after her husband. Delphine prepared it for us at her family's chalet in the French Alps and it was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately American chickens are not the same type as French chickens. Just looking at them you can see they are different. French chickens have a longer body than our roly-poly American chickens and French chickens have more flavor. There is a farm in the Santa Cruz area that has the best chickens this side of France, Fogline Farm, and I will use their chickens whenever I can. I recommend you get the highest quality chicken you can find and not use one that has been water chilled.

Poulet à la Gaston Gérard
preparation time about 15 minutes
cooking time 1 hour

1 small whole chicken cut into serving pieces or 6 whole chicken legs, about 3 pounds, for 6 persons
2 onions, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 generous cup dry white wine
150 grams grated gruyère cheese plus more to top dish when placed in oven (150grams is 1 2/3 cups)
1 tablespoon strong mustard
250-300 grams crème fraîche (250 grams is just over 1 cup)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Salt the chicken pieces and then brown them in a mixture of the olive oil and butter in a dutch oven. Next add the onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and grate some pepper over it all. Cover and cook over a low burner for about three quarters of an hour. Remove the chicken and keep warm on a plate in a low oven. Add the wine to the dutch oven and then add the cornstarch and stir. Add the grated gruyére and then add the mustard and crème fraîche. Stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Return the chicken to the dutch oven, sprinkle cheese on top and place uncovered  in oven set at 380ºF for 10 minutes.