IN THE KITCHEN : A <i> Poule </i> in Every Pot

In our family, roast chicken for Sunday dinner is almost an article of faith. I truly think it’s one of nature’s perfect foods. It’s crisp. It smells good. It goes with red wine. Most importantly, it fits the rhythm of the week, providing a pause between the rush of the weekend and the rush of the workweek--a kind of tasty coda before Monday morning, when the whole thing starts over again.

But every once in a while you need to shake things up. Do something really radical. Last weekend--get this--I boiled the chicken. Yeah, maybe it was reckless, but it tasted good.

In fact, it’s interesting to compare the two chickens--roasted and boiled. Both have essentially the same components: chicken with vegetables and a starch. But the overall effect is quite different.

With roast chicken, the flavors are well delineated. The potatoes taste like potatoes, by gosh, and the chicken like chicken (provided you buy the right kind. I hate to seem too chauvinistic, but I firmly believe California-bred birds are distinctly better than their Southern factory cousins).

Boil the bird and the effect is different. The lines of flavor are blurred, even though the vegetables served with the soup are cooked separately and not combined until the last minute. Because the chicken is stewed with carrots, leeks and onions, it picks up some of their aromatic qualities. And because the second set of vegetables gets a final bath in a very enriched chicken stock, there is a certain poultry-ness to them.

Call it the Impressionist version of chicken dinner vs. the Primitivist.

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You can also call this a poule au pot , if you are of a French frame of mind, though classically that is a more complicated meal--boiled with beef and sausages as well, with the meat carved at the table and served separately from the stock, which is bulked up with noodles as a first course. This could be called a boiled dinner although, at the opposite extreme, a boiled dinner usually seems to connote a kind of mean and mingy meal of chicken and vegetables cooked together for reasons of economy--Pilgrim food.

This is someplace in between, clean and delicate since the serving vegetables are cooked separately, but complex as well. Actually, I have come to use this method whenever I’m cooking things like boiled dinners or stews.

Now, some people will look at this recipe and see that the first few vegetables--those cooked with the chicken--are discarded and they will say they are wasted. They will see that the rest of the vegetables are cooked separately before serving and they will say it takes too much trouble.

They are welcome to their opinions, but I wish they would try it this way just once. The first vegetables give up their flavors in service to the broth--the intrinsic bond that makes the whole dish work. At the same time, cooking the second set of vegetables individually emphasizes their separateness, keeping the final result from being a muddy mush of flavors.

In fact, that is exactly what happened when I reheated the dish the next day with the chicken and vegetables together--the green flavor of the sugar snap peas overwhelmed the stock. What once had been a lovely, delicate broth had become heavy and hard without a lick of subtlety.

And that’s the last thing you need before facing a week of work.

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There are a few things to notice about this recipe. The first is that though two chickens are cooked, only one is eaten. The second chicken is a freebie leftover--perfect for eating cold or for shredding for soups, enchiladas . . . whatever. Secondly, cooking the mushrooms using the method described below--in a very hot, dry pan--concentrates their flavor wonderfully. Finally, feel free to adjust the serving vegetables to fit your whim. I like this combination for right now, when sugar snap peas are good, but it would be just as delicious with shelled peas. Or you could combine carrots, peas and potatoes. Leeks would be nice. So would pearl onions. What the heck, do what you like.

BOILED CHICKEN AND THEN SOME

1 leek, trimmed and cleaned

2 cloves garlic

1 onion, quartered

1/4 parsnip

3 carrots

1 stalk celery

Parsley stems

2 bay leaves

2 (3 1/2-pound) chickens, quartered

2 cups white wine

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 pound new potatoes, quartered

1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and stringed

1/2 pound brown mushrooms, trimmed and wiped clean

Chopped parsley

Coarse-grain sea salt

Place leek, garlic, onion, parsnip, carrots, celery, parsley stems and bay leaves in bottom of large soup pot. It is not necessary to chop them. Place chicken pieces on top of vegetables, breasts on 1 side, leg quarters on other. Pour wine and stock over, then enough water to barely cover chicken.

Bring to simmer over medium heat. Maintain bare simmer, using flame-tamer if necessary, 1 hour.

While chicken is cooking, boil or steam new potatoes until barely soft, about 20 minutes. Boil or steam sugar snap peas in pod until bright green but still crisp, about 5 minutes. In non-stick pan over very high heat, cook mushrooms, tossing to keep from burning, until browned, about 5 minutes.

When chicken is cooked, remove breast meat and leg quarters to warmed platter, cover with foil and keep in warm oven. Ladle chicken cooking liquid through cheesecloth-lined strainer into saucepan. Bring liquid to boil. Adjust seasonings to taste. Liquid should be somewhat under-salted as sea salt will be added later.

Place 1 piece of chicken in middle of shallow soup or pasta bowl and arrange vegetables around it. Spoon over stock, being careful not to stir vegetables. Sprinkle lightly with parsley and then sprinkle some coarse-grain sea salt over chicken meat. Makes 4 servings, with 1 chicken left over.

Each serving contains about:

639 calories; 566 mg sodium; 152 mg cholesterol; 32 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 45 grams protein; 2.60 grams fiber.