Poulet Gaston Gerard

Cut the whole chicken into pieces and keep the carcass; trim the ends of the drumsticks and the wing tips.

Melt a knob of butter with a tablespoon or two of oil in a cast iron pot over medium heat.

Lay in the chicken pieces with a little salt and pepper and wait for a slight colouration; do not really sear it, the object is the juices rather than the browning.

Turn the pieces and cook three to four minutes more to a light golden colour on each side.

Reserve the meat on a tray and brown the carcasses the same way.

Drop the heat from medium to medium low, leave the carcasses on the bottom to stop the meat burning, and arrange the breasts and thighs on top.

Sprinkle the paprika from a height so it does not clump and toss gently without breaking the pieces.

Lid on, heat down to low, and leave to cook 35 to 40 minutes; he also says 'let's keep this for 30 minutes at least' and opens it at 30 minutes.

Lift the chicken into an oven dish, cover with foil and hold in the oven at 60C while the sauce is made.

Discard the carcasses, leaving the cooking liquid in the pot as the base of the sauce.

High heat, bring the cooking juices to a good boil for one or two minutes.

Melt about 100 g of Comte into the juices at high heat, as for a cheese fondue.

Add a glass of white wine and bring back to a strong boil, about three minutes, until the clumped cheese melts in.

Stir in half a cup of cream and bring back to the boil.

Boil hard to reduce five or six minutes to a semi-syrupy, spoon-coating consistency.

Turn the heat off completely and finish with two tablespoons of Dijon mustard; boiling the mustard is to be avoided. Taste and correct the seasoning.

Pour the sauce over the chicken in the oven dish a little at a time, covering the pieces.

Grate the rest of the cheese over and sprinkle on a little breadcrumb.

Broil only until the cheese and breadcrumb form a crust; the chicken is already cooked.

Serve from the dish, with a little crisp on top and the sauce underneath.