Not so much Dinnerblog as Graybo’s Handy Recipe Reference. A couple of people have asked for the recipe for the chicken dish I cooked last week that went so well – so here it is:
Chicken with wild mushroom and champagne sauce
Serves 4 (or two greedy people)
Preparation takes about 10 minutes if you are organised, and cooking 30 minutes. It pays to pre-heat your oven to a low temperature so that you can keep the chicken warm.
Ingredients:
- 500g chicken breast fillets (i.e. 4 fillets)
- 300ml champagne (although you can use cava or any other sparkling dry white wine – but nothing impresses a guest quite like champagne!)
- a little olive oil for frying
- 250g wild mushrooms, cleaned and larger mushrooms halved (wild mushrooms includes all those funny ones you don’t often see – ceps, blewitts, girolles, chanterelles – whatever you can get in your local deli – did I say this recipe was cheap? no, I did not)
- 2 tbsp half fat crème fraîche (the only concession to calorie reduction in this meal)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon (I actually used about twice this amount)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in a large saucepan. Pour over the champagne and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken breasts are thoroughly cooked.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden. Strain the chicken breasts, reserving the liquor, and keep warm (see! I told you to warm the oven!). Add the reserved liquor to the mushrooms and allow to bubble for 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat and stir in the crème fraîche and tarragon. Simmer gently for 2 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly. Season to taste.
- Slice the chicken breasts diagonally into thick slices and arrange of warmed serving plates. Pour over the sauce straight away and serve.
I served this on a bed on white and wild rice mixed with fresh green beans, which worked really well. But then the second bottle of wine had been opened by this point, so it could have tasted of anything to be honest!
Thanks to Waitrose for the recipe.