Poached chicken in creamy morel sauce

In my mind, I have already poached many chickens. I've always loved the thought of doing it, gently simmering a chicken until the tender meat just falls from the bones and the broth is fragrant and tasty, sporting little dots of chicken fat on the surface. There seems something so grown-up about it - the hand that poaches the chicken is the hand that rules the kitchen. Or something like that. Well, I finally did it for real. Man, it was good (both the process and the result) - what took me so long, I wonder? Having a lot of time on hand, I made a recipe I had been lusting over for ages:

Poached chicken in creamy morel sauce (serves 4)

• one largish chicken
• 2 carrots
• 1 small leek
• half a celeriac
• half an onion
• one bay leaf
• 2 cloves
  
• one chicken stock cube
• 25g dried morels
• 1 shallot
• 50g butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 200 ml white wine
• 200 ml single cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Wash the chicken inside and out and pat try. Peel the vegetables and cut into chunks. Attach the bay leaf to the onion with the cloves. Place everything in a large pot and add water until the chicken is covered. Bring to a boil. Skim the broth once or twice at the beginning, then add the stock cube. Cover and simmer for about 50 minutes. Remove the chicken and let cool slightly. Set 300ml of the broth aside. Skin the chicken and remove all the meat from the bones. Set aside. Soak the morels in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse well to remove dirt. Cut large morels in halves or quarters. Heat 25g butter in a large saucepan then sauté the shallots and the morels, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan. Melt the remaining butter, then add the flour and stir until there are no more lumps. When the mixture is bubbling, add the broth and white wine, stirring well. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the cream and morels and cook for another five minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the meat and heat through.