20110317 Pan-fried Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

(SOURCE: GoodFood Magazine - Pan-fried chicken in mushroom sauce)

This was so good. My husband has never been a big fan of any sort of mushroom sauce, and he found this dish very delicious. Cooking the sauce over high heat to reduce it twice gave it a very intense and rich flavor. And the wild mushrooms smelled so delicious. I wish I had some simple mashed potatoes to soak up all the finger-licking sauce!

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp sunflower oil
3 chicken legs, halved at the joint
600ml chicken stock
1 medium onion, finely diced
200g mixed wild mushrooms
200ml dry white wine
180ml creme fraiche

METHOD
1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the thighs for 8 minutes, skin side only. Transfer to a Dutch oven. Fry the drumsticks for about 5 minutes each side and transfer to the Dutch oven too.
2. Pour enough stock to just cover the chicken legs in the Dutch oven. Bring stock to the boil and cover, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook at just below simmering point for about 35 minutes until chicken is cooked.
3. While chicken is simmering, heat the remaining fat from the chicken in the Dutch oven again. Sweat onion for 5 minutes until soft. Turn up the heat, add the mushrooms, then fry for 3 minutes until they soften and start to smell wonderful. Pour over the white wine, raise the heat to maximum and boil rapidly for about 6 minutes until reduced by two-thirds. Turn off the heat and leave until chicken has cooked.
4. Once chicken legs are cooked, strain stock into pan with the onion mixture, bring back to the boil and reduce again by two-thirds until it is thick. Pour in double cream, bring it to the boil, season if you want, then pour it over the chicken. Heat chicken through in the sauce for about 3 minutes then turn off the heat and leave for a few minutes before serving.