Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Leeks

By mm_food4me

This dish is particularly wonderful because it is that magical combination of easy, elegant, and quite delicious. Katie understands braising meat much better than we do, and we learned from this recipe just how easy and successful braising can be, even for low-fat meats such as chicken breast. Her suggestion of truffled mashed potatoes as a side dish is certainly not necessary. But our local cheese department happened to have a small tub of D’Artagnan Black Truffle Butter, and so we indulged. Trust us: it’s worth every penny if you can find it. Otherwise, truffle salt or truffle oil will of course be delicious.

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 1 large, whole chicken breast (with skin and bone), cut in half
• Kosher or sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 pinches dried or fresh herbs (thyme, sage, oregano, etc.)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 leek, carefully washed and sliced into ¼-inch rounds
• 1-1/2 cups Shiitake mushrooms, washed, stems removed, and sliced coarsely
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup wine (preferably Crossing Vineyard Viognier)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from aldenteblog.com

Preparation

Step 1

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Rub skin side of chicken breasts liberally with salt, pepper, and herbs. In Dutch oven, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat until beginning to brown. Place chicken skin-side down in pan and cover; cook 3-4 minutes, until skin is crispy and browned.

2. Turn chicken, add stock, wine, leeks, and mushrooms; re-cover pan, place in middle of oven. Cook for 30 minutes; remove chicken to plate, cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

3. Add heavy cream to pan, bring to boil, and reduce to desired consistency; correct seasonings

4. Serve chicken and sauce on warmed plates with truffled mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans with toasted hazelnuts.