CHICKEN CHASSEUR

  You can buy Chasseur sauce in jars or packet mixes in the
supermarket, but it’s almost as simple, and certainly more cost
effective, to make at home.
Use whichever cut of chicken you like, but thighs are a cheaper
option than breast meat and you can get away with a smaller
quantity of any type of meat when it’s served in a thick sauce. (If
you haven’t got white wine, use red, or even sherry will do.)
6 chicken thighs
Button mushrooms
Baby onions or shallots
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
3⁄4 pint (450 ml) chicken stock
Glass of white wine
1 tbsp sugar
Tomato purée
Garlic purée
Tarragon
Oil
Salt & pepper
Butter
Method
1. Remove the chicken skin, wash and trim any fatty bits off the
meat then season with salt and pepper. Peel and chop the onions, or leave them whole if they’re small enough, ditto the mushrooms.
2. Warm a very little oil in a very large pan and brown the chicken
thighs two or three at a time by cooking for a few minutes and
turning once. (Don’t put all the meat in the pan at the same
time; if you do the chicken will just cook in its own steam
without browning.)
3. Put the chicken thighs in a large casserole dish and sprinkle
with tarragon.
4. Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan then fry the onions and
mushrooms together for a few more minutes before putting them in the casserole dish with the chicken.
5. Add the stock, wine and chopped tomatoes to the pan with the
sugar and a good squeeze each of tomato and garlic purée; stir
well, bring to the boil and thicken the sauce with more tomato
purée (or a little gravy browning or instant gravy granules) if
necessary.
6. Cook in a preheated oven, Gas Mark 5 (190ºC) for about half
an hour until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is
bubbling. Serve with potatoes or rice and extra vegetables or
salad.
Tip
Don’t chuck out tomatoes, even if they’re slightly soft and wrinkly and past their best; make an alternative to sun dried tomatoes (kind of ) by baking them in the oven. Keep covered in the fridge and use in meat and other tomato based sauces.