Alain Chapel's Free-Range Chicken Giblet Stew with Wild Mushrooms and Crayfish

Step 1: Chicken Giblet Stew

Blanch the cockscombs starting from a pan of cold water, bring to a boil and cool in ice. Do the same with the kidneys.

Split the ends of the cockscombs, remove the cartilage, and halve them as needed, according to their thickness.

Simmer the cockscombs for around 2 hours in a mixture of 1 1/2 cups (35 cl) of light chicken stock and 3/4 cup (15 cl) of calf’s foot jelly. When finished, the cockscombs should be softened, and the sauce should look syrupy, even gelatinous.

Slice the kidneys and poach them in a mixture of half light chicken stock and half calf’s foot jelly. Reduce the liquid by half before adding the kidneys and cooking them for 10 minutes maximum. When cooked, the kidneys should be very tender, and the sauce should look syrupy, even gelatinous.

Completely remove all of the meat from the wings, roast it, and caramelize it in the clear chicken jus.

Brown the chicken oysters in a hot pan, then sauté in butter. Caramelize in chicken jus.

Sauté the hearts and livers in butter. They should not be cooked through, but slightly pink in the middle.

Step 2: Crayfish

Separate the crayfish heads from the tails. Reserve the heads to make a sauce later.

Roast the tails for 3 minutes in a dash of olive oil in a cast iron casserole. Remove from the heat, and add 5 crushed garlic cloves and the parsley. Deglaze with cognac, cover with a moistened towel, and let the mixture infuse for 5 minutes. Peel the crayfish tails.