Poached chicken with a fricassée of wild mushrooms
Raymond Blanc's French classic is dressed to impress.
Ingredients
- 125ml/4½fl oz water
- 20g/¾oz unsalted butter
- 30g/1oz carrot, cut in half lengthways, then cut into 0.5cm/¼in slices
- 30g/1oz celery, cut into 0.5cm/¼in slices
- 30g/1oz leeks, cut into 0.5cm/¼in rings
- 30g/1oz courgettes, cut in half lengthways, then cut into 0.5cm/¼in slices
- 2 x 200g/7oz chicken breasts, skin removed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 sprig fresh tarragon
- 50g/2oz girolle mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned
- 50g/2oz button mushrooms, quartered, cleaned
- 50g/2oz chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned
- 30g/1oz trompette mushrooms, trimmed, halved, cleaned
- ½ garlic clove, puréed
- 1 tsp finely chopped shallots
- 1 handful flatleaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 40g/1½oz tomatoes, seeds removed, finely chopped
Method
Place the water and butter into a medium frying pan with a lid over a high heat and bring to the boil.
Add the carrots, celery, leeks, courgettes and tarragon and bring back to the boil.
Season the chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place into the pan on top of the vegetables. Cover with a lid and simmer for 6-7 minutes, or until the chicken is almost completely cooked through.
Add all of the wild mushrooms except the trompettes and replace the lid and cook for one minute.
Add the trompettes and continue to cook for 30 seconds.
Place the garlic, shallots and parsley into a bowl and mix well (this mixture is called a persillade.
Add the persillade and tomatoes to the pan and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Test the chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer into the thickest part of the breast - if the juices run clear the chicken is cooked. If the juices are not clear, replace the lid and cook for 1-2 minutes more, or until completely cooked through.
To serve, remove the chicken breasts from the pan and cut in half on the diagonal. Spoon some of the vegetables onto each plate and top each pile with two pieces of chicken. Add a further spoonful of vegetables and drizzle with the cooking juices.