PA Dutch chicken

Method

Carve the chicken into 8 pieces. Reserve the wings for later use. Preheat the oven to 325 degress F.

Sprinkle the pieces of chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. Melt 3 Tbl butter in a large skillet and fry the chicken until golden brown - on all sides. Place the chicken in a pyrex or earthen-ware baking dish. Smear the sour cream over it. Cover tightly and bake for 2 hours.

Degrease the skillet, but reserve it (and the browned-bits on the bottom) for gravy-making.

Remove the chicken from the baking dish. Create a gravy from the frying pan residue and braising liquids. In the frying pan, combine 1 Tbl butter and 1 flour over moderate heat. Whisk the roux until it is blond in color. De-glaze the pan with wine. Pour in the contents of the baking dish. Reduce the liquid until it barely coats the back of a spoon. Test for salt and pepper. (A few pinches of nutmeg in the gravy will add an extra layer of complexity.)

note

I recommend sour cream for this dish. Heavy cream is too potent. The sour cream actually curdles to form tiny, sour cheese balls. This is one rich dish.

Here's an old cookbook, representative of PA Dutch cuisine: gutenberg.org.