Recipes

Guisado de pollo

Guisado de pollo

This is based on a Dominican dish, though I’ve made my own additions (the traditional version doesn’t use chipotles) and left out the green olives that often appear. If you don’t want to buy a pineapple, it’s okay here to use pineapple canned in natural juice (not in syrup!). It does make things easier. Despite the long list of ingredients, this is a an easy supper dish.
Couverts6
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 800 g 1lb 12oz skinless boneless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper
  • 75 g 2¾oz pumpkin, cut into 2.5cm (1in) chunks
  • 400 g 14oz waxy potatoes, cut into 1cm (½in) chunks
  • 1 onion roughly chopped
  • 1 red pepper halved, deseeded and chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves grated
  • 4 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ medium-sized pineapple peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
  • 400 g can of tomatoes in thick juice
  • 1 tsp soft dark brown sugar
  • 2 canned chipotles in adobo sauce finely chopped, or 3 tbsp chipotle paste
  • 3 sprigs of thyme
  • 500 ml 18fl oz chicken stock
  • 1 jalapeño chilli halved lengthways and deseeded
  • 2 tbsp capers rinsed of vinegar or brine
  • juice of 1 lime
  • small bunch of coriander roughly chopped

Instructions

  • Heat half the oil in a casserole and brown the chicken on both sides over a medium-high heat, in batches if necessary so as not to crowd the pan, seasoning as you do so.
  • You are not trying to cook the chicken through, just colour it well.
  • Remove the pieces and put them into a dish.
  • Put the pumpkin and potatoes into the oil in the pan and cook for about five minutes, until the vegetables are just becoming tinged with gold.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Add the rest of the oil to the casserole and sauté the onion and pepper until they are softening and the onion is pale gold, about eight minutes.
  • Add the garlic and cumin and cook for another two minutes.
  • Stir in the pineapple, tomatoes, sugar, chipotles, thyme and chicken stock and season.
  • Bring gradually to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
  • Cut the chicken into strips and add to the pot along with any of the juices that have run out of it, along with the pumpkin and potatoes.
  • Put the jalapeño into the pot too, stirring gently, then leave everything to simmer, uncovered, for about 25 minutes.
  • Stir it a few times during the cooking.
  • The vegetables should be soft and the cooking juices should have thickened.
  • Add the capers and lime juice and taste for seasoning.
  • Stir in the coriander and serve.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken
Cuisine; Dominican

Tajine of chicken, caramelized onions and pears

Tajine of chicken, caramelized onions and pears

This is one of the Moroccan tajines in Claudia Roden’s lovely book, Arabesque. I’ve changed it very little. As it’s sweet, I like it served with couscous or rice that has had chopped preserved lemon stirred through it (as well as herbs). It needs something fresh and sharp as a contrast.
Couverts4
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 500 g 1lb 2oz shallots or baby onions
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1.7 kg 3lb 12oz chicken, skin-on, jointed into 8
  • 1 large onion roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • good pinch of saffron strands
  • 1½ tbsp runny honey
  • 15 g ½oz unsalted butter
  • 4 small sweet ripe pears peeled, quartered and cored
  • flaked almonds or sesame seeds toasted, to serve

Instructions

  • To peel the shallots or baby onions, blanch them in boiling water for five minutes, then drain.
  • When they’re cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and trim the root ends.
  • Heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to hold all the chicken pieces in one layer.
  • Season the chicken and brown it all over.
  • You aren’t trying to cook it through, just get some good colour.
  • Remove to a plate.
  • Drain off all but about 1 tbsp of fat from the pan and add the onion.
  • Cook over a medium heat until soft and golden.
  • Add the ginger and cinnamon and cook for two minutes.
  • Pour on about 250ml (9fl oz) of boiling water and add the saffron, stirring to help dissolve the strands.
  • Return the chicken to the pan and cook, covered, over a low heat, for about 15 minutes.
  • Add the shallots or baby onions and continue to cook, covered, for another 20–25 minutes.
  • (The chicken is cooked when it is tender and, when a thick piece is pierced near the bone with the tip of a sharp knife, the juices that run have no trace of pink.
  • ) Turn the chicken pieces and stir gently every so often.
  • Add a little more water if you need to.
  • Lift out the chicken and set aside.
  • Stir the honey into the pan.
  • Cook, uncovered, until the liquid has really evaporated and the onions are brown and caramelized and so soft that you could crush them, as the Moroccans say, ‘with your tongue’.
  • At the same time, melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the pears over a medium heat until they are tender and golden.
  • Season.
  • Return the chicken to the pan for a final time, spoon the onions on top and heat through.
  • Put the pears on top, sprinkle with the almonds or sesame seeds and serve.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken / Fruit / Stew
Cuisine; Moroccan

Hainan chicken rice

Hainan chicken rice

Healthy, ‘clean’ and with a hot sauce that will knock your socks off, this is a great lunch for a crowd. I love that it’s plain, but lifted by strong flavours: chilli, ginger and spring onion. It is of Chinese origin and most often found in Malaysia and Singapore, though it’s popular in Vietnam and Thailand, too.
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

FOR THE CHICKEN

  • 200 g 7oz spring onions (about 2 bunches)
  • 5 garlic cloves sliced
  • 125 g 4½oz root ginger, sliced
  • 1.5 kg 3lb 5oz chicken
  • 75 ml 2½fl oz dark soy sauce
  • 25 ml 1fl oz light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 large cucumber
  • leaves from 15g ½oz bunch of coriander
  • about 3 tbsp Crispy fried shallots optional

FOR THE CHILLI SAUCE

FOR THE RICE

  • 15 g ½oz unsalted butter
  • 15 g ½oz root ginger, grated
  • 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 425 g 15oz Thai jasmine rice, well washed and drained
  • salt

Instructions

  • Start with the chicken.
  • Put 4 litres (7 pints) of water, half the spring onions, the garlic and ginger into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
  • Add the chicken.
  • When it returns to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Cover the pan, place it over the lowest heat and leave to cook for 50 minutes.
  • Take the chicken out of the stock and remove the breasts.
  • Return the rest of the bird to its stock, increase the heat and simmer gently for another 10 minutes.
  • Reserve 750ml (1¼ pints) of the stock then leave the chicken, covered, in the pot.
  • To make the chilli sauce, put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz.
  • Scrape into a serving bowl.
  • For the rice, melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the ginger and garlic for about three minutes.
  • Add the rice and sauté for another five minutes, stirring it round in the buttery juices.
  • Add the reserved stock, bring to the boil and cook until the rice looks pitted.
  • Reduce the heat to its lowest, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat, still covered.
  • Mix the two soy sauces together with the sesame oil.
  • Trim the remaining spring onions and cut into lengths on the diagonal.
  • Put half of these on a small plate.
  • Halve the cucumber lengthways, slice very finely and arrange on another plate.
  • When you’re ready to serve, put the chicken breasts back in with the rest of the chicken, bring to the simmer to heat through, then cut the chicken into pieces (drumsticks, halved thighs and so on; it’s a good idea to have a cleaver on hand).
  • Increase the heat under the stock and reduce so it has a stronger flavour.
  • Put all the chicken on a platter with the breasts – cut in several slices – on top.
  • Spoon some of the soy-sesame dressing over, then sprinkle with the other half of the spring onions.
  • Sprinkle with the cucumber and Crispy fried shallots (if using).
  • Serve the chicken with the rest of the dressing, chilli sauce, rice and vegetables.
  • Serve the broth in bowls, with the coriander.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken / Rice

Pollo cubano with fried eggs and plantains

Pollo cubano with fried eggs and plantains

An oddity to us, perhaps – chicken, eggs and something that tastes like bananas – but this is such a satisfying dish (though, admittedly, I do not always choose to have the egg). It’s a doddle to make with leftover chicken (just heat it in a frying pan, then add it to the rice) but so good with juicy fried thighs, as here. Embellish freely. Try the Smashed avocado, the Avocado salsa and – a must for me – Chilli sauce. Oh, before you complain that there are rather a lot of pans involved: sometimes it’s worth it.
Couverts6
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Put the rice into a saucepan and add water to come just 2.
  • 5cm (1in) above the level of the rice.
  • Bring to the boil, then boil vigorously until the surface looks ‘pitted’, as if the rice has lots of little holes in it.
  • Reduce the heat to very low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
  • Make sure the rice doesn’t scorch on the base of the pan.
  • Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan and cook the tomatoes for about five minutes.
  • Add the garlic, spring onions, chillies, oregano and cumin and cook for another two minutes.
  • Cover and leave in the pan.
  • Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in another frying pan.
  • Season the chicken thighs and cook them over a medium-high heat to get a good colour on both sides, then reduce the heat and continue until they are cooked through.
  • It will take about eight minutes in all.
  • Cut into strips and keep in the pan (covered) so they stay warm.
  • Heat enough oil in a frying pan to come to 2cm (¾in) deep.
  • Peel the skins from the plantains and slice into rounds about 1cm (½in) thick.
  • When a drop of water sizzles in the oil, add the plantain slices and cook until the undersides are golden brown.
  • Turn and cook on the other side until golden and slightly caramelized at the edges.
  • It takes about five minutes in all.
  • Lift out with a slotted spoon and put on to kitchen paper to soak up excess oil.
  • Pat the top of the slices too.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper and squeeze on the juice of one of the limes.
  • They can sit happily while you fry the eggs.
  • Add the drained rice and chicken to the pan with the tomatoes.
  • Heat through well while you fry the eggs.
  • Stir the coriander into the rice mixture and squeeze on the remaining lime juice.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve the chicken and rice with the plantains and eggs.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken
Cuisine; Cuban

Jamaican chicken curry with sweet love apples and rum

Jamaican chicken curry with sweet love apples and rum

Spicy and coconutty, Jamaican curry really can contain whatever vegetables you have to hand, so you can use sweet potato instead of pumpkin, or add peppers or carrots. It can also be hotter, so up the chilli content if you want to. My own additions to the traditional Jamaican version are caramelized tomatoes (tomatoes are known as ‘love apples’ there) – I like the sweetness they bring at the end – and a good slosh of rum (just enough to be detectable). I mean, why not?
Couverts6
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 650 g 1lb 7oz skinless boneless chicken thighs or leg meat, cut into big chunks
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 75 ml 2½fl oz lime juice, plus the juice of ½ lime, plus the finely grated zest of 2
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil or any other oil you prefer
  • salt and pepper
  • 500 g 1lb 2oz butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
  • 250 g 9oz potato, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 tsp ground allspice
  • 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
  • 2 cm ¾in root ginger, peeled and grated
  • 2 red chillies halved, deseeded and shredded
  • 6 spring onions chopped
  • 4 sprigs of thyme plus the leaves of 1 sprig
  • 400 ml can of coconut milk
  • 4 large tomatoes chopped
  • 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp rum

Instructions

  • Put the chicken, 1 tbsp of the curry powder and the 75ml (2½fl oz) of lime juice into a bowl.
  • Toss together with your hands then cover with cling film, put in the fridge and leave to marinate overnight (or for at least four hours).
  • Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
  • Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a heavy-based casserole, season the chicken with salt and pepper and, working in batches, brown the chicken all over.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Add the squash and potato and cook over a medium heat to get a little colour on them for about six minutes.
  • Now add the rest of the curry powder, the allspice, garlic, ginger, chillies and spring onions and cook for about two minutes, stirring.
  • Return the chicken, together with any juices which have run out of it, to the pan with the marinade.
  • Add the 4 sprigs of thyme, the lime zest and coconut milk and season.
  • Heat until the mixture is at a gentle simmer, then leave it to cook for about 30 minutes.
  • The chicken and vegetables will become tender and the liquid will reduce.
  • About five minutes before the curry is ready, heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan and add the tomatoes.
  • Season.
  • Cook them until they are soft and a lot of their liquid has evaporated.
  • Add the sugar and allow the tomatoes to caramelize a little.
  • Add these to the curry.
  • If the sauce seems a little thin, then gently mash some of the squash and potatoes with a fork to thicken the sauce.
  • Add the rum and heat through.
  • Check for seasoning.
  • Although you will feel like reaching for the coriander, it’s not right for this: thyme is the thing.
  • Add a final sprinkling of it and a really generous squeeze of lime juice.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken
Cuisine; Jamaica

Cumin and lime-scented potato salad with date and tamarind chutney

Cumin and lime-scented potato salad with date and tamarind chutney

It might seem odd to drizzle a ‘chutney’ over asalad, but this is a smooth Indian chutney, rather than the thick, chunkyAnglo-Indian variety.
The chutney recipemakes about 300ml (½ pint), which is more than you need for the potato salad,but it’s difficult to work with smaller quantities. The extra can be frozen inbatches.
The potatoes andchutney are actually lovely on their own with some cucumber raita, but bothalso make brilliant side dishes for any chicken roasted with Indian spices andthey’re especially wonderful with Roopa’s lemon grass and turmeric chicken.
Couverts6 AS A SIDE DISH
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

FOR THE CHUTNEY

  • 150 g 5½oz tamarind paste
  • 150 g 5½oz pitted dates, chopped
  • 150 g 5½oz jaggery or soft dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 1½ tsp cumin seeds toasted and ground

FOR THE POTATO SALAD

Instructions

  • Start with the chutney.
  • Put the tamarind, dates, jaggery or sugar and 500ml (18fl oz) of water into a pan and bring to the boil.
  • Reduce the heat and simmer until the dates are really soft and the mixture has reduced by about half.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
  • Stir in the spices and whizz in a food processor until smooth.
  • Add a dash of water if it’s too thick; you want something with a coating consistency.
  • Boil the potatoes until tender.
  • Halve each one and tip into a serving bowl.
  • Add the lime juice, red onion, cracked pepper, chillies and cumin and leave to cool (you can serve this warm or at room temperature).
  • Toss in the herbs and drizzle with about 50ml (2fl oz) of the chutney.
  • Serve.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken

Roopa’s lemon grass and turmeric chicken with potato salad and date and tamarind chutney

Roopa’s lemon grass and turmeric chicken with potato salad and date and tamarind chutney

One of my favourite dishes in the book, this recipe comes from my friend Roopa Gulati. Her mum used to make it. It is actually very simple to cook – it’s just spiced roast chicken with dressed potatoes, after all – but it is satisfying on every level: it looks like a painting when you set it on the table (all those dark colours); has contrasting flavours (slightly bitter turmeric beside sweet dates); and is an Indian dish that has a fairly limited ingredients list so it’s not time-consuming to make. You ideally need fresh turmeric; it looks like a skinny, bright-coloured root ginger. You’ll find it in larger supermarkets and ethnic shops. If you can’t find it, use 1 tbsp of ground turmeric instead, though it doesn’t make a paste. I couldn’t publish this recipe without its delicious accompaniments, Cumin and lime-scented potato salad with date and tamarind chutney.
Couverts6
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 cm 1½in fresh turmeric
  • 2 lemon grass stalks
  • 3 red chillies chopped
  • 60 g 3oz galangal or root ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1½ tsp cracked black peppercorns
  • 1.5 kg 3lb 5oz chicken
  • 2 limes halved
  • small bunch of Thai basil or mint if you can’t find Thai basil
  • 125 ml 4fl oz chicken stock (optional)

Instructions

  • The day before, peel the turmeric and roughly chop (best to wear clean kitchen gloves; that yellow colour stains everything).
  • Remove the coarse outer layers from the lemon grass and trim the top and base.
  • Chop the rest – the softer bit of the lemon grass – as finely as you can.
  • Combine the turmeric and lemon grass with the chillies, the galangal and salt.
  • Blitz in a food processor or blender with the vinegar and oil and add the cracked pepper.
  • Make slashes in the chicken on its breasts and legs with a small sharp knife.
  • With gloved hands, rub the paste all over the chicken, pushing it into the slashes and inside the bird, too.
  • Cover loosely with cling film and marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge.
  • Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
  • Truss the bird, if you like; it does make it look neat.
  • The next day, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  • Stuff the cavity with three lime halves and the Thai basil, squeezing the remaining lime half over the bird.
  • Roast in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
  • Three-quarters of the way through the cooking time, add the stock or the same amount of water to the tin and scrape the sediment off the bottom to mix in with the liquid.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve the chicken with the juices from the pan, the potato salad overleaf and a cucumber raita.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken

Chicken with riesling, leeks and grapes

Chicken with riesling, leeks and grapes

The richest of the French chicken dishes in this chapter and a good Friday night treat for supper with friends. If you’re not partial to grapes you can use the same recipe, sauté about 125g (4½oz) of quartered button mushrooms once the dish is cooked and gently stir them in instead.
Couverts4
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 15 g ½oz unsalted butter
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 skin-on bone-in chicken legs drumsticks and thighs attached
  • 1 onion very finely chopped
  • 375 ml 13fl oz dry Riesling
  • 3 medium-large leeks
  • 150 ml 5fl oz chicken stock
  • 3 sprigs of thyme plus leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 150 ml 5fl oz double cream
  • 60 g 3oz seedless green grapes, not too big
  • squeeze of lemon juice

Instructions

  • Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan over a medium heat, season the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides until they are a good golden colour.
  • Don’t turn the chicken until it is easy to move, or the skin will tear.
  • It will take about eight minutes to brown both sides properly.
  • Remove the chicken and pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat in the pan.
  • Add the onion and cook over a medium-low heat until it is soft but not coloured.
  • Add the Riesling and bring to the boil, stirring to dislodge the essences stuck to the bottom of the pan and reducing the wine by half.
  • Remove the dark leaves from the tops of the leeks and any coarse outer leaves.
  • Trim the bases.
  • Cut each leek into neat lengths of about 4cm (1½in).
  • Wash these, keeping them intact.
  • Add the stock to the pan and return to the boil.
  • Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, add the herbs and leeks and return the chicken with any juices that have run out of it.
  • Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the leeks carefully with a slotted spoon – they should be tender by now – and set aside.
  • Continue to cook the chicken for another 20–25 minutes, then remove the chicken and reduce the cooking liquid by boiling; you want to end up with about 150ml (5fl oz).
  • Add the cream and the grapes and bring to the boil to cook the grapes and reduce the sauce.
  • You should end up with a sauce that just coats the back of a wooden spoon.
  • Remove the herbs.
  • Add the lemon juice and taste for seasoning.
  • Return the chicken and leeks to the cream sauce and gently heat through.
  • Serve with the extra thyme leaves sprinkled over the top.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken

Poulet bonne femme

Poulet bonne femme

There are many versions of this, some using a whole chicken, others using pieces. Some have only bacon and shallots, others include mushrooms as well. The key thing is that it’s light and uses white wine. I much prefer it to coq au vin made with red wine. I’ve always loved the name – ‘housewife’s chicken’ – and I’ve been cooking it since I was a teenager, when I came across a version in my mum’s old Cordon Bleu part work. It seemed to be the kind of French dish that, with just a little care, I could pull off.
Couverts4
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 125 g 4½oz bacon lardons (quite chunky bits)
  • 35 g 1¼oz unsalted butter
  • 1 chicken skin-on, jointed into 8
  • 16 shallots peeled
  • 275 g 9¾oz really small waxy potatoes (ideally peeled, but don’t worry if you’re in a hurry)
  • 3 garlic cloves crushed
  • 200 ml 7fl oz white wine
  • 150 ml 5fl oz chicken stock
  • 1 bouquet garni
  • salt and pepper
  • 125 g 4½oz small button mushrooms
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

Instructions

  • Heat half the oil in a casserole and sauté the bacon over a medium heat until it is golden all over.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Add half the butter to the pan and brown the chicken on both sides.
  • Don’t let the fat burn as you are doing this.
  • Remove the chicken to a plate.
  • Pour off almost all the fat from the casserole, leaving about 1 tbsp behind.
  • Put the shallots into a saucepan of boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for four minutes.
  • Drain and pat dry, then put them into the casserole with the potatoes and sauté these in the fat until pale gold.
  • Add the garlic and continue to sauté for two minutes.
  • Pour the wine into the pan and bring to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat and return the chicken and bacon, together with any of the juices that have run out of them.
  • Pour in the stock, add the bouquet garni and season.
  • Bring it all to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
  • Cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through (when you pierce the flesh nearest the bone with the tip of a sharp knife the juices that run from the chicken should be clear, with no trace of pink).
  • The potatoes should be completely tender, too.
  • Meanwhile, melt the rest of the butter and oil in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms briskly so they get a really good colour.
  • Allow their juices to evaporate.
  • Season.
  • Add them to the chicken about 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Notes & Wine Advice

Check for seasoning, scatter on the parsley and serve immediately.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken

Chicken forestière

Chicken forestière

One of those dishes that turns out better than you anticipate. A few dried wild mushrooms, a bag of carrots, some chicken thighs and a dash of cream. Simple ingredients that aren’t that expensive. But you end up with a bosky, luxurious panful.
Couverts4
Deel op Facebook Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 20 g ¾oz dried wild mushrooms
  • salt and pepper
  • 8 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 small onions halved and cut into thin crescent moon-shaped slices
  • 75 ml 2½fl oz Madeira or, failing that, dry sherry
  • 215 g 7½oz carrots, peeled and cut into batons
  • 200 ml 7fl oz chicken stock
  • 150 ml 5fl oz double cream
  • 150 g 5½oz button or chestnut mushrooms, quartered
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

Instructions

  • Season the thighs and heat the oil in a sauté pan.
  • Cook the chicken on both sides to get a good brown colour.
  • Don’t turn the pieces over until they can easily be moved, otherwise the skin will tear.
  • You don’t need to cook the chicken through, you’re just getting a good colour.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and put in a dish.
  • Pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat from the pan into a bowl (reserve this fat), but don’t wash the pan out.
  • Heat the fat that remains in the pan and sauté the onions until soft and pale gold.
  • Deglaze the pan with the alcohol, scraping with a wooden spoon to dislodge all the flavour from the base.
  • Add the carrots and the stock, plus the wild mushrooms and their soaking liquor.
  • Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Return the chicken to the pan (together with any juices that have run out of it), placing it skin side up.
  • Cover and cook gently for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the lid, stir in the cream, return to a simmer again and cook for another 10 minutes with the lid off.
  • In a separate pan, heat 1 tbsp of the reserved chicken fat and quickly sauté the mushrooms until they are golden brown.
  • The mixture should be dry, so cook until the liquid in the mushrooms has evaporated.
  • Season and toss in with the chicken, stirring gently to combine everything.
  • The ‘sauce’ should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
  • Taste for seasoning, though you shouldn’t need to adjust it (the reduced chicken stock is quite salty).
  • Scatter on the parsley and serve from the pan in which it was cooked.
————————————————————————————————–
Course; Chicken