Chicken with Morels

Wonderful dish, special-occasion-worthy, 10+/10! 

The recipe I use in this entry is from a book called French: delicious classic cuisine made easy by Carole Clements & Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen. As I stated in the video, I got this book back when Borders bookstore existed and love it, it's full of great recipes, some of which are in this blog already. I have modified only slightly from the original for what is written below.

Link for my YouTube video of preparation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwYRtVmqa0

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz. dried morel mushrooms (*this could easily be reduced to just 1 oz. to make this more affordable)

1 c. chicken broth

4 T. butter, divided

3 medium shallots, thinly sliced (*you can use more, but I found this to be plenty)

3 1/2 oz. button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

3 T. brandy

3/4 c. heavy cream, divided

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, around 7 oz. each (if you can find thinly sliced, those would be best)

1 T. vegetable oil (*I left this out by accident in the video; will use next time)

3/4 c. Champagne or dry sparkling wine

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring morels and chicken broth to a boil. Remove pan from heat and let stand for 1 hour. (I covered my pan during the hour, but this is not listed in original recipe.)

2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Pour the morels and broth over the cheesecloth, then press lightly to squeeze excess liquid out. Reserve the sauce and set aside some of the larger morels. If desired, coarsely chop the remaining morels. (I did not do this and it was fine.)

3. In a skillet over medium heat, melt 2 T. of the butter. Once melted, add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes (until softened). Add the (chopped) morels and the sliced button mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, for around 2-3 minutes.

4. Stir in the thyme, brandy, and 1/3 c. of the heavy cream. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to keep at a gentle simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid has nearly evaporated. When finished cooking, remove from heat to let cool slightly.

5. While the mixture is simmering, cut a slit pocket in each chicken breast, being careful to not pierce the sides.

6. Use a small spoon to stuff each pocket with around 1/4 of the mushroom mixture. (*If you have some leftover, just reserve it to add to the sauce like I did in the video.)

7. Melt the remaining 2 T. of butter along with the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat if you have regular (thick) chicken breasts, medium high if you have thin chicken breasts. Gently add them to the heated butter/oil combo and cook for 8 minutes on one side, then 4 min on the other (longer if you have the regular/thicker ones). 

8. Transfer chicken breasts to a plate. Add the sparkling wine to the pan and bring to boil, keeping at boil until reduced by half. Then add the reserved morel liquid, bring back to boil and keep it boiling until again reduced by half.

9. Add remaining cream and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, until sauce thickens to point of coating the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. 

10. Return the chicken to the pan, along with any accumulated juices, and stir in the reserved whole morels (and any leftover stuffing mixture, if you had any). Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 3-5 minutes, until sauce reaches desired thickness. Serve sauce over morels and enjoy!!