Our Big Family Kitchen

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Chicken Breasts Chasseur (or as we call it, Chaucer)

By Lucy 'Gal' Leusch

Ingredients

  • 4 bone-in chicken breasts with skin (6 ounces each)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 t olive oil
  • 1 medium carrot, chopped
  • ½ C chopped onions
  • 2 C brown veal stock
  • 2 C sliced mushrooms
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 2 T cognac
  • ½ C dry white wine
  • 2 T chopped fresh tarragon

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F
  2. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Warm 1 t of the oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Carefully, lay the chicken breasts, skin side down, in the pan. Sear for 3 minutes, or until the skin has nicely browned. Transfer the chicken, skin side up, to a nonstick jelly-roll pan. Reserve the sauté pan.
  3. Bake the chicken for 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a knife.
  4. While the chicken is cooking, remove most of the fat from the sauté pan. Add the carrots and onions to the pan. Saute over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to caramelize. Add the stock and raise the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by half. Strain through a fine sieve into a small bowl; skim off any fat that rises to the surface.
  5. Warm the remaining 1 t oil in a medium sauté pan over medium. Add the mushrooms and shallots. Saute for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are golden. Season with the salt. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cognac. Carefully ignite the cognac with a long match. Allow the flame to burn out, then add the wine. Return the pan to the heat.
  6. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the reserved stock and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the tarragon. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  7. Remove the skin from the chicken breasts. Carefully cut the breast meat from the breast bone and then cut each breast, on the diagonal, into 2 pieces. Place the breast meat in the center of 4 plates. Top with the sauce. I serve this with rice or noodles.