Chicken with tarragon sauce, mushrooms, mash, sticky carrots and leeks

Daughter two, for whom this blog was started, is cooking tonight with a friend. She found a recipe on the BBC website, however it was written in a rather complicated way, so I have rewritten it to make the process easier. I included a cooking sequence, to help the process along.

In the traditional manner the original rice in the recipe has been junked and mash is being made. The other veg is a lovely combination of carrots with leeks. The oniony nature of the leeks adds flavour and the cooking process leaves the vegs coated in a lovely, slightly sticky buttery residue. In our house we refer to carrots like this as caramel carrots. Other recipes I've seen use lemon juice, maybe honey, or sugar, but I like the sweetness you get from the veg itself.

For the chicken ·          2 tbsp butter ·          1 tbsp olive oil ·          1 free-range chicken breast, skin removed ·          200ml/7fl oz hot chicken stock For the sauce ·          100ml/3fl oz dry white wine ·          1 shallot, finely chopped ·          250ml/9fl oz double cream ·          handful chopped fresh tarragon ·          1 tsp Dijon mustard ·          salt and freshly ground black pepper For the chestnut mushrooms ·          1 tbsp butter ·          1 tbsp olive oil ·          1 garlic clove ·          5-6 chestnut mushrooms, chopped ·          1 tbsp double cream

Shopping list PER CHICKEN BREAST 3tbsp butter 2tbsp olive oil 1 chicken breast 1 mugful hot stock 1/3 mugful dry white wine 250ml double cream (1 mugful) Tarragon 1tsp Dijon mustard 1 clove garlic Pepper Salt Potatoes Milk Nutmeg 5 carrots 5 leeks Preparation sequence Start by preparing the carrots and leeks and set to cook, peel the potatoes, cut them into small chunks to cook quickly,  then make the sauce, and set aside, then start cooking the chicken, as it simmers prepare and cook the mushrooms, fitting in mashing the potatoes.

Mashed potatoes

·          Cook the potatoes thoroughly

·          Mash with butter and warmed milk, adding a good pinch of nutmeg, and pepper and salt to taste

Caramel carrots and leeks

A patent recipe for delicious slightly sticky veg. Ingredients for three people.

5 medium sized leeks

5 medium sized carrots

·          Peel carrots and cut into fine slices

·          Prepare leeks, cut into 3cm long slices, wash

·          Put carrots and leeks into a pan with a knob of butter, pepper, salt and enough water to cover (only just cover)

·          Put onto the heat and bring to the boil, simmer vigorously with the lid off, until the carrots are cooked

·          Make sure the veg doesn't burn, but only add moisture a spoonful at a time

For the chicken

·          2 tbsp butter

·          1 tbsp olive oil

·          1 free-range chicken breast, skin removed

·          200ml/7fl oz hot chicken stock

For the sauce

·          100ml/3fl oz dry white wine

·          1 shallot, finely chopped

·          250ml/9fl oz double cream

·          handful chopped fresh tarragon

·          1 tsp Dijon mustard

·          salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chestnut mushrooms

·          1 tbsp butter

·          1 tbsp olive oil

·          1 garlic clove

·          5-6 chestnut mushrooms, chopped

·          1 tbsp double cream

Chicken 

·          Heat the butter and olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat.

·          When the butter is foaming, add the chicken and fry for 3-4 minutes, turning once, or until golden-brown on both sides.

·          Add three to four tablespoons of the hot stock (reserving the remaining stock for the sauce), reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook the chicken for 12-15 minutes, turning once, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

·          Remember to baste the chicken regularly during cooking with the stock and chicken juices

Sauce

·          heat the white wine and chopped shallot in a non-reactive saucepan for 2-3 minutes, or until the shallots have softened

·          add the remaining hot chicken stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the volume of liquid has reduced by half

·          add the double cream and tarragon and simmer for a further 2-3 minutes

·          stir in the Dijon mustard and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

·          set aside and keep warm

Chestnut mushrooms

·          heat the butter and olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat until the butter melts

·          add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for 4-5 minutes, or until golden-brown

·          Add 1 tbsp double cream and cook gently until heated through

To serve

·          cut the chicken into thick slices, and arrange them into a fan shape on a serving plate

·          drizzle the sauce over the chicken and serve the mushrooms alongside

Champignons a la grecque

Making mixed starters (or assorted horses dovers^(sic) as they are known at ours)  for a family gathering I returned to an old favourite, champignons a la grecque,  a quickly made cooked mushroom salad. Although I think of this dish as something for the summer, it works very well in the winter, the dressing is lightly acid and softly spicy, and the mushrooms have a fleshy firmness, and stay surprisingly pale. Best of all this recipe is wonderfully simple. It's taken from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, almost verbatim. Having made a swift stab at trying to find a similar recipe in Greek recipes (in translation, of course), and came up with nothing. So, I'll keep looking, out of curiosity. In the meantime it's a lovely little recipe for a tasty little dish.

It's very nice on its own with a piece of toast, or with some hummous, or as part of a mixed hors d'oeuvres. At this time of year it's a nice and light little something to go with roast meat, hot or cold. 

Cooking notes

Resist the temptation to add more liquid, it really isn’t necessary, even though it looks like there isn't much there.
You can substitute two tinned tomatoes or two large spoonfuls of chopped tomatoes for the fresh ones. It may make extra liquid, but it will reduce down.

On the same basis, it’s worth using a nice olive oil, but not necessarily the best, as it'll lose its body once it's boiled to reduce it.

RECIPE

Large bowl of small mushrooms, around 180g (or large ones cut in quarters)

juice of half a lemon

tsp of coriander seeds

1 tsp of peppercorns, cracked

Large pinch of salt

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp water

2 peeled and chopped tomatoes

·        Shake off/rub clean the mushrooms

·        Put the mushrooms into a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice and shake gently, and set aside

·        Put all the other ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil, simmer for a couple of minutes

·        Add the mushrooms and any juice in the bottom of the bowl

·        Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for five minutes

·        Take out the mushrooms and set aside back in bowl

·        Boil the liquid, uncovered until it’s  reduced by half, then pour it over the cooked mushrooms, stirring gently to mix

If you like you can sprinkle a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley over the mushrooms, or a mixture of parsley and fresh coriander. It adds a little something, and looks pretty.

That’s it.

My mixed starters included mushrooms a la grecque, celery remoulade, sliced cooked beetroot and sliced cucumbers, roast veg, green salad. For meat lovers I included some mixed salami.

buckwheat pancakes - crepes au Sarrasin

When I lived in Paris I sometimes liked to walk part of the way home, down the Champs Elysees and then along the river. I rewarded myself with a sarrasin pancake from a stall outside the Samaritaine department store - not the building by the Seine that you saw on The Bourne Identity, one of the buildings to the rear. I liked it with Gruyere, especially on a cold evening.

Sarrasin is the French name for buckwheat, grain or flour, although it isn't clear where buckwheat originally came from, the name started with the Romans and it has stuck. It's used in Japan to make soba noodles.

Buckwheat flour is gluten free, and looks a little bit grey. The flavour is a little bit rooty, some say musty, but I think it's like a sweeter version of rye flour. The flour feels very fine between your fingers. It is sometimes mixed with wheat flour, to give more elasticity, however in a pancake it works fine on its own. I will quite happily eat sarrasin pancakes with sweet as well as savoury fillings, although I think it is usually used for the latter.

You can get buckwheat flour in health food shops, and some supermarkets.

Recipe

Ingredients
250g buckwheat flour
50cl/1pint milk (about a mug and a half)
2 eggs
pinch of salt

Method
Beat the eggs and flour together. Add the milk slowly. When combined add a pinch of salt and set aside for a couple of hours (if you have time).
If the mixture becomes a bit thick, add a little water, to make it spread more easily.

Cook in the usual manner.

Fillings
Grated cheese.
Ham and cheese.
Sliced chorizo.
Flaked smoked mackerel (with a dollop of sour cream, pepper and a twist of lemon).
Mushrooms, spinach and onions (softly fry onions in a dab of butter and add sliced mushrooms and a few spoonfuls of water, add washed, chopped spinach, and cook until wilted).