Chicken With Vin Jaune And Mushrooms Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare the morels: Place the morels in a colander and rinse well under cold running water to rid them of any grit. Transfer them to a heatproof measuring cup. Pour boiling water over the mushrooms to cover. Set aside for 20 minutes to plump them up. Then, using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the mushrooms from the liquid, leaving behind any grit that may have fallen to the bottom. If any of the morels are extremely large, halve them lengthwise.
• Liberally season the chicken pieces on all sides with sea salt and white pepper.
• In a deep 12-inch skillet, combine the oil and 4 tablespoons of the butter. Place over moderate heat. When the fats are hot but not smoking, add the chicken, skin side down, and brown until it turns an even golden color, about 5 minutes more. Carefully regulate the heat to avoid scorching the skin. (This may have to be done in batches.) When all the pieces are browned, use tongs (to avoid piercing the meat) to transfer them to a platter. Season again with sea salt and white pepper.
• Pour off and discard the fat in the skillet. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the shallots, and the garlic. Cook, covered, over low heat, until soft but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and boil, uncovered, over high heat for 5 minutes to burn off the alcohol, which could make the sauce bitter. Add the cream and the morels, and stir to blend. Return the chicken and any juices that have accumulated to the skillet. Cover, and cook over low heat, turning the pieces in the sauce once or twice, until the chicken is cooked through and has thoroughly absorbed the sauce, about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Steps:

• Remove the rind and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4-inch across and 1-inch long). Simmer for 10 minutes in 2 quarts of water. Rinse in cold water. Dry.
• In a heavy large heavy bottomed casserole or Dutch oven, saute the bacon slowly in hot butter until it is very lightly browned (temperature of 260 degrees F for an electric skillet). Remove to a side dish.
• Dry the chicken thoroughly. Brown it in the hot fat in the casserole. (360 degrees F for the electric skillet.)
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Return the bacon to the casserole with the chicken. Cover and cook slowly (300 degrees F) for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.
• Uncover, and pour in the cognac. Averting your face, ignite the cognac with a lighted match. Shake the casserole back and forth for several seconds until the flames subside.
• Pour the wine into the casserole. Add just enough stock or bouillon to cover the chicken. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer slowly for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and its juices run a clear yellow when the meat is pricked with a fork. Remove the chicken to a side dish.
• While the chicken is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
• Simmer the chicken cooking liquid in the casserole for 1 to 2 minutes, skimming off fat. Then raise the heat and boil rapidly, reducing the liquid to about 2 1/4 cups. Correct seasoning. Remove from heat, and discard bay leaf.
• Blend the butter and flour together into a smooth paste (beurre manie). Beat the paste into the hot liquid with a wire whip. Bring to the simmer, stirring and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
• Arrange the chicken in a casserole, place the mushrooms and onions around it and baste with the sauce. If the dish is not to be served immediately, film the top of the sauce with stock or dot with small pieces of butter. Set aside uncovered for no longer than 1 hour or cool, cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Shortly before serving, bring the casserole to a simmer, basting the chicken with the sauce. Cover and simmer slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until the chicken is heated through.
• Serve from the casserole, or arrange on a hot platter. Decorate with sprigs of parsley.
• When the butter and oil are bubbling in the skillet, add the onions and saute over moderate heat for 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.
• Braise them as follows: Pour in the stock, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 15 to 20 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet. Serve them as they are.
• Bake them as follows: Transfer the onions and their sauteing fat to a shallow baking dish or casserole just large enough to hold them in 1 layer. Set uncovered in upper third of a preheated 350 degree F oven for 40 to 50 minutes, turning them over once or twice. They should be very tender, retain their shape and be a nice golden brown. Remove herb bouquet. Serve them as they are.
• Place the skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. As soon as you see that the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.
• Toss the shallots or green onions, if using, with the mushrooms. Saute over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Sauteed mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.

Steps:

• Soak morels in boiling-hot water for 2 hours.
• Squeeze liquid from morels into remaining soaking liquid (set morels aside), then strain soaking liquid through a paper-towel-lined sieve into a bowl and reserve 1/2 cup.
• Cook shallot and garlic in butter with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add cream and reserved soaking liquid and boil until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pat chicken dry and sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then brown chicken in 2 batches, skin sides down first and turning once, until golden brown, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate as browned.
• Return chicken to skillet, skin sides up, with any juices from plate and add morels, reduced cream mixture, and 3/4 cup vin jaune. Cook at a bare simmer, covered, over low heat until tender, about 45 minutes.
• Transfer chicken and morels to a serving dish and keep warm, loosely covered with foil. Boil sauce until slightly thickened and reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, about 5 minutes.
• Pour sauce over chicken and morels and sprinkle with a little more vin jaune.