Waterzooi- Coucou de Bruxelles en Waterzooi du Maraicher

Bring chicken stock to the boil and poach chicken for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, scrape the asparagus, remove the woody base of the stems and cut the remainder into 1 inch pieces. Cook in salted water or microwave. They should remain slightly crisp. Retain cooking liquid. Remove the outer, discolored leaves from the endive and cut off the bitter base. Then cut them into slices about 1 inch thick and sweat (low heat for a long time) them in 1 oz of butter. Add a dash of lemon juice, a drop of water and salt and pepper then cover. They should remain slightly crisp. Cook spinach and drain. Cook mushrooms in 1 T of butter. Cut carrots into fine julienne strips. Steam them, then drain. Put together ¾ pint of chicken stock and ¾ pint of the aspargus cooking liquid, bring to the boil and reduce by ⅔. Add the cream, bring back to the boil and reduce again by half. Beat in 2 oz of butter with a whisk to thicken. Add pepper and juice of half a lemon. Add asparagus, endive, spinach and pleurotes (cut in pieces). Cut the chicken into pieces, remove skin and put them in the sauce. Reheat slowly to blend the flavors until very hot, but do not boil. Serve in bowls with a little of each of the vegetables. Garnish with the julienne carrots. Accompany with steamed potatoes rolled in melted butter and chopped parsely.