Chicken in a creamy white wine sauce - comfort food and it's finest! So simple to make, the key to this recipe is the white wine which transforms into an incredible broth by braising the chicken slowly in it so the chicken is incredibly tender. This is very French-country-chic! :)
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr15 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr25 minutesmins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: French-style
Servings: 4-5
Calories: 659cal
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Ingredients
1tbspolive oil
2.5 lb / 1.2 kg chicken pieces, bone in thigh & drumsticks are ideal (Note 1)
3/4 cup / 185 mlcream(pouring or heavy cream, but not low fat cream)
Garnish
Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet (with lid) over high heat. Add chicken skin side down and cook until golden brown, then turn and cook the other side for 1 minute. Remove chicken from skillet. Drain excess fat from skillet (do not wipe).
Reduce heat to medium high. Melt butter then add garlic and onion. Cook for 3 minutes until softened, then add bacon. Cook until golden.
Add wine. Bring to simmer, scraping the bottom of the skillet to mix the brown bits into the liquid. Simmer for 2 minutes.
Add chicken broth, thyme and return chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Cover with lid or foil, then transfer to the oven. Bake for 60 minutes, covered, then remove the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes to recrisp the skin. The chicken should be very tender.
Remove chicken or move to side. Stir cream into sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with plenty of parsley. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes. Mine are pictured with Glazed Carrots.
Notes
1. I used most of 1 chicken, cut into pieces. Bone in thigh fillets and drumsticks are ideal. Breast isn't the best for this because it's so lean and this is a slow cooked dish. Wings are too small and will overcook.2. Use a decent quality drinking wine that isn't too woody or sweet. Avoid: woody chardonnay's and sweet resiling. Sauvignon blanc, pinot gris and semillons are usually pretty safe bets.3. To make this without wine, substitute the white wine with 1 cup chicken broth and 1 cup water + 2 tbsp Dijon mustard.4. Adapted from Nigel Slater's "Real Food" cookbook.5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings. This estimates that 2 tbsp of chicken fate is rendered out and discarded. If you use turkey bacon, it reduces to 535 calories or if you omit the bacon altogether, it reduces to 496 calories.