mhammer chicken fried parsley

Ingredients for 2 three-pound chickens:

* 2 grated onions * 1 teaspoonful of pepper

* 1 coffeespoonful of saffron (mixed packet saffron and crushed saffron flowers)

* 150 g (5oz) of butter * 2 soupspoonfuls of chopped parsley the zest of one pickled lemon

* the juice of one lemon * salt

Preparation:

Put the whole chickens in a thick-bottomed saucepan with the offal. Cover with 2 big glassfuls of water. Add salt, grated onion, pepper, saffron, butter and a soupspoonful of chopped parsley, Cook with the lid on over a moderate heat, turning the chickens over from time to time so that they become impregnated with the sauce. Add a little extra water if necessary. When the chickens are almost cooked, mash up half the liver from one chicken with a little sauce, either in an electric mixer or in a vegetable sieve, using the finest grille.

Put this in the saucepan with the chickens, together with the second soupspoonful of chopped parsley. Chop up the lemon zest into tiny pieces, almost as fine as the chopped parsley, When the chickens are cooked, i.e. the flesh comes away from the bones easily between the fingers, add the chopped zest and the lemon juice. Leave to boil down gently until the sauce is rich and creamy and remove from the heat after checking the seasoning. 20 minutes before serving, heat 100 g (4 oz) of butter and a ladleful of oil in a frying pan.

Fry the chickens in this fat, turning them over to brown nicely all over, Arrange the chicken on a hot dish and re-heat the sauce without letting it boil away. Add 2 soupspoonfuls of the frying fat to the sauce, mixing it well, stirring the saucepan with a circular mouvement, and pour this rather sticky sauce over the chickens. Serve at once.