Soviet French-Style Chicken

Winner, winner chicken dinner AKA a low-effort, high-reward proposition.

Apr 04, 2025

∙ Paid

Welcome to Chesnok: Notes from a Post-Soviet Kitchen, a newsletter that explores life and cooking within the Soviet diaspora. I have a forthcoming cookbook out this September that further explores the post-Soviet table through my family’s immigrant story and recipes. Stay tuned for more details on its launch, my publishing journey, and other behind the scenes tidbits. If you’re here and not already subscribed, well, here you go:

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Last week, I was extolling the arrival of spring. Pops of green, budding flowers, and longer days. Hooray! But the other element of spring I failed to mention? It’s fickleness. One day you’re basking in the sun’s rays, feeling lighter, brighter, and ready to ditch your Vitamin D supplement. The next you’re bundled up in your parka, blasting your car’s heat, muttering to yourself, “Is this cold ever going to end?!”. Which is to say, while yes, it’s officially spring and we have the green light to celebrate all things, well, green—we are still very much in comfort food season, my friends.

Enter myaso po-Frantsuzski—Soviet/Russian French-style meat. I grew up with my mom and aunts making this retro, yet extremely delicious sheet pan dish. I admit, French-style meat (at least in English) is not the most titillating name, and the “French” part is dubious at best. A quick Google search will tell you about a Russian ambassador in Paris named Count Alexei Orloff, his French chef, and the subsequent creation of Veal Orloff, our recipe’s purported predecessor. Popularized by Julia Child in the 1960’s, this French method starts with saddle of veal that that gets brined, braised, stuffed with mushroom duxelles and soubise, and then covered in a mornay sauce before being baked and served. (Don’t worry, I, too, had to look up some of those terms.) All in all, very fancy, very fussy, and very decidedly not what we’re talking about today.

Lost in translation, bastardized by the Soviets, or maybe completely made up — whatever the reason, the French-style meat of today is more like… a casserole. But, a really exceptional one! With onions and peppers that cook just long enough to sweeten, but still retain their bite; and a cheese-mayo topping that keeps the meat underneath succulent, while simultaneously turning into a melty, browned soufflé in the oven.

My mom tells me that she first had it in the early 1980’s at her best friend’s birthday party. As she remembers, “Это было просто улёт.” It was mind-blowing. She learned how to make it, but given the shortage of good quality meat in Soviet Tbilisi, it was a recipe relegated to special occasions. Once she moved to the U.S., land of plenty, however, it became more of a mainstay. Not just for our family, but for the post-Soviet community at large too. It would show up everywhere from dinner parties to church potlucks(to everyone’s delight)

It’s traditionally prepared with veal, pork loin, or a cut of beef like eye of round, but occasionally my mom would make it with dark, juicy chicken thighs, which overtime has become my preference. It’s was less maintenance: no cutting a big roast into slabs, pounding them to thin and breakdown connective tissues, marinating overnight. (That being said, you could absolutely assemble the entire dish ahead of time, which will only benefit the chicken, but a 30 minute rest on the counter while the oven preheats works, too!). I’ve seen recipes that push it further into one-pan territory by adding thin coins of potatoes under the meat layer. But we tend to serve our carb of choice on the side—to soak up the flavorful juices that pool at the bottom of the pan— be it rice, mashed potatoes, or zharenaya kartoshka (Soviet-style home fries).

So, next time you’re facing a cold, rainy (classic) spring day and feeling something cheesy and comforting, make this dish. It may bear no semblance to the OG Veal Orloff, but after one bite, I think you’ll agree that it’s for the best.

Eating… Beef stew with horseradish and, for a side, baked potatoes and mushrooms in a clay pot from
Darra Goldstein
’s transportive Beyond the North Wind: Russia in Recipes and Lore. The 1 cup of horseradish added a gentle kick of heat that lingered at the back of my throat but also, more surprisingly, a subtle sweetness that kept me coming back for more. Also, I could’ve eaten the whole pot of potatoes on my own.
Watching… We’ve started to watch The Diplomat with Kerri Russell and Rufus Sewell. Really impressed with the writing so far!
Reading… When I told my optician I was writing a post-Soviet cookbook (he’s originally from Odessa), he brought me his (signed!) copy of Peace Meals: Candy-wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories by Anna Badkehn. Beautiful food writing woven into stories of war-torn post-9/11 Middle East.
Buying… I’m slowly making my way through
Rawaan Alkhatib
’s fantastic new book Hot Date! and was inspired to buy a big box of the jeweled fruit from my favorite date farmer in California. They’re some of the best dates I’ve ever tasted and thankfully they aren’t sold out for the season yet!