Chicken Chasseur (French Hunter’s Chicken Stew)

Ingredients

• Whole chicken (Broken into pieces; the thighs may be boned while leaving the skin on, if desired)
• Chicken fat or cooking oil (Chicken fat from the cavity may be rendered; oil can be used instead)
• 1 pint White button mushrooms (Quartered rather than sliced)
• 1 Carrot (Chopped)
• Shallots (Finely chopped)
• Salt (To taste; season the chicken thoroughly)
• Black pepper (To taste, plus more at the end)
• All-purpose flour (Used to lightly coat the chicken)
• Cognac (The recipe uses a generous amount; it may be ignited, though reducing it without flambéing works as well)
• Canned tomatoes (Small can; crushed, diced, or fresh canned tomatoes may be used)
• Stock (Enough to cover the chicken and vegetables; chicken bones may be added for flavor)
• Soy sauce (Used in place of some of the finishing salt; use a small amount so the dish does not taste specifically of soy sauce)
• Butter (A generous amount, melted gently into the finished sauce to keep it emulsified; additional butter may be used on the noodles)
• Fresh tarragon (Added at the end; its mild licorice flavor makes the dish taste distinctly French)
• Egg noodles (To serve; boil in salted water according to the package directions and drain. Toss with melted butter if holding before serving)

Steps

1. 1

   If using chicken fat, remove the large pieces of fat from the opening of the chicken cavity. Place them in a large sauté pan over moderate heat and let them render gently without burning. Cooking oil may be used instead.

2. 2

   While the fat renders, quarter the button mushrooms and chop the carrot. Add both to the rendered fat and begin cooking.

3. 3

   Finely chop the shallots. Hold them back until the mushrooms are nearly cooked, since the fine shallots can burn easily.

4. 4

   When the mushrooms are nearly done, add the shallots and reduce the heat so they soften without scorching.

5. 5

   Break down the chicken into pieces. A practical method is to cut through the skin between the breast and leg quarters, dislocate the thigh joints, and cut through the joints. If desired, remove the bones from the thighs while leaving the skin on. Reserve the inedible bones for the stew.

6. 6

   Season the chicken pieces thoroughly with salt and black pepper. Lightly coat them with flour. The flour helps the chicken brown, thickens the sauce, and helps the sauce cling to the chicken, although it makes very crisp skin less likely.

7. 7

   Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and move the pan partly off the heat. Add additional cooking fat if needed.

8. 8

   Place the chicken pieces in the pan skin-side down. The pan may be crowded; browning in batches is optional. Brown the chicken gently rather than deeply, turning it as needed. Some of the browned coating may stick to the pan, but it will become part of the sauce.

9. 9

   Once the bottoms have browned, turn off the heat briefly and let the pan cool slightly. Add the cognac, taking care to avoid a sudden flare-up. Return the pan to the heat and allow the cognac to reduce. It may be ignited if desired, but flambéing is optional.

10. 10

    Add the canned tomatoes. Use crushed, diced, or fresh canned tomatoes, but do not add so many that the dish becomes overly tomato-forward or Italian in character.

11. 11

    Pour in enough stock to cover the chicken and vegetables. Add some of the reserved chicken bones if desired to deepen the flavor.

12. 12

    Cover the pan and simmer for about 1 hour, until the chicken is as tender as desired. The preferred point is just fork-tender, before the meat is in danger of falling apart.

13. 13

    Remove the chicken pieces from the pan. Set them aside while the sauce is finished.

14. 14

    Boil the remaining sauce uncovered until thick, which takes about 20 minutes in the source recipe. Stir more frequently as it reduces because the thickening sauce is increasingly likely to stick and burn.

15. 15

    Season the reduced sauce with soy sauce in place of some additional salt. Add a little more black pepper if needed.

16. 16

    Turn off the heat and wait for the bubbling to stop. Gradually melt a generous amount of butter into the sauce, stirring gently so the sauce remains emulsified and rich rather than separating.

17. 17

    Return the chicken pieces to the sauce, removing inedible bones and scraps. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and let the pieces reheat gently.

18. 18

    Add fresh tarragon to finish the stew. Serve directly from the pan or transfer the pan to a trivet at the table.

19. 19

    For serving, boil the egg noodles in salted water for the time specified on the package. Drain them, then toss with melted butter if they need to hold before the chicken is ready.

Notes

The transcript provides very few exact ingredient quantities beyond 1 pint of mushrooms, 1 carrot, a small can of tomatoes, and the stated cooking times. Quantities for the chicken, fat, shallots, flour, cognac, stock, soy sauce, butter, tarragon, and noodles should be adjusted to taste and the size of the chicken. The creator prefers skin-on, bone-loose chicken, but the dish is traditionally served bone-in. Chicken fat may be replaced with oil. Flambéing the cognac is optional. The source suggests serving the stew with buttered egg noodles.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• French
• stew
• chicken
• comfort food
• one-pan
• simmered
• holiday meal