Dinner · French

Chicken chasseur

Name: Chicken chasseur
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 500g Chicken thigh fillets; 1 tbsp Olive oil; 40g Butter; 1 Brown onion; 250g Chestnut mushrooms, sliced; 2 cloves Garlic, crushed; 1 tsp Dried thyme; 1 tbsp Plain flour; 1 tbsp Tomato purée; 1 tin Chopped tomatoes; 1 cube Chicken stock cube, made up to 300ml; 30g Fresh parsley; 1kg Baby new potatoes, cook on the day

Chicken in a rich mushroom, tomato and thyme sauce. French bistro cooking that waits in the freezer.

Start to finish: 1 hr 10 min
Hands-on: 36 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

Contains gluten, dairy, celery

Ingredients

4 portions

500gChicken thigh fillets
1 tbspOlive oil
40gButter
1Brown onion
250gChestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 clovesGarlic, crushed
1 tspDried thyme
1 tbspPlain flour
1 tbspTomato purée
1 tinChopped tomatoes
1 cubeChicken stock cube, made up to 300ml
30gFresh parsley
1kgBaby new potatoes, cook on the day

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Cut each chicken thigh in half and season with salt and pepper. Finely chop the onion, slice the mushrooms and crush the garlic. Crumble the stock cube into 300ml boiling water.
2
Heat the oil and 15g of the butter in a large casserole over a medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in two batches for about 4 minutes each, until golden all over, then lift onto a plate.
3
Add another 10g of butter, then the onion and mushrooms. Cook for 8 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden and their juices have cooked away. Stir in the garlic and thyme for a minute.
4
Stir in the flour and tomato purée for a minute, then add the tomatoes and pour in the stock a little at a time, stirring. Return the chicken and any juices.
5
Simmer with the lid ajar for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chicken is tender and cooked through and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
30 min, mostly hands-off
6
Season and stir in half the chopped parsley. Serve, or leave to cool and portion into tubs.

On the day

Reheat until piping hot all the way through. Boil the new potatoes in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender, then drain and toss with the rest of the butter and parsley. Mash works just as well.

Cook’s tip

Let the mushrooms fry until their liquid has gone and they turn golden. Wet, grey mushrooms make a thin, dull sauce.