French Hunters Chicken Food

POULET SAUTé CHASSEUR - HUNTER'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Blanch, peel, de-seed and chop tomatoes; comcassé (in small, seedless half inch cubes). Reserve until needed.
• In the traditional method, each piece of chicken contains only one bone. To achieve this, remove first the back and then the thigh bone; cutting them away cleanly to the top of the leg joint. (This will help accelerate your cooking time and make it easier to eat.) Fold over the skin and flesh of thigh to form a neat package (you can tie it if you want) and reserve. In a small pot, add one tablespoon of olive oil, over medium heat, until liquid and hot and then add remaining bones (thigh, back and any extra bits) and brown well before turning (about 6 minutes/side). This is a brown stock recipe, be sure to get lots of colour on those bones.
• While bones are browning, cut mushrooms, shallots, garlic and herbs, reserve remains (ie: ends of mushrooms, shallots, even the skins off the tomatoes for flavour). Then drain off excess fat from now browned and cooked, bones. Cover with water and return to stove over medium low heat, add thyme, whole peppercorns, parsley, one sprig of tarragon, and the bay leaf to stock as it begins to simmer. Add also the remains of the shallots, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. to stock to give it lots of flavour, simmering over low heat for about 30 minutes to reduce bay about half, while you cook the rest of the dish.
• In a large, deep sauté pan, sauté lardons over medium heat until golden brown then remove, drain, and de-grease the pan. Reserve cooked salt pork cubes at room temperature. Do not rinse your pan, that golden colour on the bottom of the pan is FLAVOUR. (If you want, you can use the pork fat instead of butter, but it's mighty salty.)
• Season the prepared chicken pieces with salt and pepper, over medium heat add half the butter and remaining olive oil to the pan. Once the pan is to temperature, seer chicken until brown, about 15 minutes on each side, basting chicken with butter and juices from the bottom of the pan (20 minutes per side if you are cooking bone-in). Watch that the bottom of the pan does not burn, butter has a higher smoke point than oil. Remove the now golden-brown chicken to rest on a platter or dish, uncovered, in a warm spot.
• Drain any excess chicken fat from your pan and add mushrooms, shallots and garlic to the now golden, hot pan and season with pepper only. Add remaining butter, and saute until golden. Deglaze pan with brandy, scraping all the brown bits off the bottom to dissolve. Add white wine and reduce over medium heat by about two thirds. (In the photos, you will notice that I removed the mushrooms to deglaze the pan, you don't have to.)
• Take reduced chicken stock in second pot, and strain liquid directly into pan, add veal stock and tomatoes continue to simmer over medium high heat, uncovered, about two minutes. Add salt pork lardons and stir to combine, as sauce simmers, the lardons to soften, add chopped tarragon and parsley to the sauce and stir, cooking over medium-low heat about 4 minutes. (NOTE: if sauce is not thickened to your liking, add optional cornstarch slurry to hot sauce to thicken) Check seasoning level, adjust as needed and immediately return the chicken to the pan, on top of the sauce to warm, and steam to be sure the chicken is hot, three to five minutes.

CHICKEN CHASSEUR (HUNTER-STYLE CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Season chicken pieces on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a few tablespoons of clarified butter in a Dutch oven over high heat. Place chicken in skin side down and cook until golden brown. Turn the chicken over and brown the other side. Remove chicken to a baking sheet and bake in the oven until just cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute until golden brown. Add the shallots and cook for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Cognac and cook until completely reduced. Add the wine and cook until completely reduced. Add the stock and tomato and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon ("nappe") and then swirl in the butter ("monter au beurre"). Once the butter is added, the sauce can not be further reduced because it will break. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the tarragon and chervil.
• Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove the breastbone from the breast. Cut each breast into 2 even pieces on the bias. Cut the legs into 2 pieces at the joint and on the bias and remove the thighbones. Serve 1 leg piece and 1 breast piece. Make sure only 1 piece contains a bone. Serve on hot plates, napped with the sauce.

CHICKEN CHASSEUR OR HUNTER'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat up your oven to 375 F. In order to make Chicken Chasseur with a crispy skin, heat up clarified butter (or a combination of butter with cooking oil) in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and once your pan is hot, add chicken (skin side down) and cook undisturbed for 6-7 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned.
• Turned the chicken over and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Transfer the chicken onto a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the internal temperature shows 165F.
• Once you've moved your chicken to the oven, discard all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet. Add sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add chopped shallots and let them sweat for another few minutes.
• If using, add cognac and either flambe it or let it almost entirely cook-off. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Cook until about 1 tablespoon of liquid is left.
• Add tomatoes or tomato paste, chicken stock, and let cook for about 10-15 minutes.
• If your sauce is too liquidy, combine 1-2 tablespoons of either Wondra flour or all-purpose flour with a 1/2 cup of water, mix well (until smooth) and add to the sauce to thicken it up. Cook for another 2 minutes.
• Adjust seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed. Once the sauce has the right consistency, turn it off and add 2 tablespoons of cold butter and let it melt into the sauce (Tip: once you've added butter, then you cannot reduce the sauce more as the butter would break);
• Chop tarragon and parsley. Remove the chicken from the oven. Then for serving, you can either put the chicken back into the pan and sprinkle everything with herbs and serve it family style, or you plate the chicken and drench in your sauce, then sprinkle with herbs. Serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Enjoy!

HUNTER'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Oil a tray, put the chicken breasts on it and cover each one with 2 bacon rashers. Put the chicken in the oven for 20-25 mins until cooked through.
• While the chicken is cooking, fry the onion in 1 tbsp oil until golden brown and soft, then set aside. Put the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water and cook for 10-15 mins until soft. Put another smaller pan of water on the hob and bring to the boil while the potatoes are cooking. Once boiling, tip in the runner beans and carrots and cook for 8-10 mins until soft but with a little bite. Drain the potatoes and put them back in the pan with the milk and cream cheese, mash until smooth and stir though the fried onions.
• Once the chicken is cooked, pour over the BBQ sauce and scatter over the parmesan and return to the oven for 2 mins until the cheese has melted. Serve with the mash, carrots and runner beans.

ITALIAN HUNTER'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag and shake chicken pieces in flour mixture until coated.
• Heat oil in a large skillet and brown chicken pieces on both sides.
• Remove from skillet and add onion, garlic and bell pepper to the skillet.
• Saute until the onion is golden, even a little browned.
• Return the chicken to the skillet and add the tomatoes, oregano and red wine.
• Cover and simmer for 30 minutes over medium low heat, or until sauce thickens.
• Add mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste.
• Simmer for 10 more minutes (can simmer longer if you have the time and want a thicker sauce).
• Serve over spaghetti or bucatini.