Poulet chasseur – French hunter’s chicken stew with whole chicken legs, white wine and mushrooms.
Poulet chasseur is a classic French country stew – also known as chicken chasseur or hunter’s chicken. A rustic dish full of flavour from mushrooms, white wine, herbs and golden-brown chicken.
Unlike many other slow-cooked dishes, this one doesn’t simmer for hours. Chicken shouldn’t be cooked for too long, or the meat can turn dry. Instead, in around an hour you get a deep, intense sauce in which all the flavours come together around the tender pieces of chicken.
I recommend using good, large chicken legs from well-reared birds. It really does make a difference – both to the flavour and to the texture of the meat.
I start by frying bacon until crisp in the pot to give the dish an extra flavourful base. The chicken is then browned well in the same pot, skin side first so the fat renders out of the skin, then on the other side. That golden crust adds plenty of flavour to the dish.
The mushrooms are then fried over a high heat before the onion and garlic go in. A little tomato purée, a spoonful of flour and white wine form the base of the sauce, which is then joined by stock, a bay leaf and fresh thyme. Once the chicken and bacon return to the pot, the dish is left to simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce is rich and full-bodied.
Just before serving I stir fresh tarragon into the sauce, which brings a lovely aromatic freshness to the otherwise deep, robust flavour.
Serve the dish with mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, rice or pasta. In our house there’s no doubt, though – mashed potatoes are the clear winner with a dish like this.
A wonderful French classic that tastes of country cooking, warm pots on the stove and plenty of love.
Poulet chasseur – French hunter’s chicken stew with mushrooms
Ingredients
Poulet chasseur
- 150 g bacon, diced
- 4 whole chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)
- 400 g mushrooms, sliced or quartered
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 250 ml white wine
- 500-600 ml chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Oil
To serve
- Boiled or mashed potatoes
- Rice or pasta
- Fresh tarragon, to garnish
Method
- Heat a deep frying pan or casserole and fry the bacon until crisp and golden. Add a little oil if needed. Set the bacon aside.
- Season the chicken with salt and freshly ground pepper on both sides. Brown it until golden in the same pan over a medium heat – skin side first. Set the chicken aside.Pour off some of the fat from the pan if there is a lot.
- Fry the mushrooms over a good high heat until well browned and their liquid has evaporated, then add the onion and garlic and fry until the onion is translucent.
- Stir in the tomato purée and cook it through for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle over the flour and stir well to combine.
- Pour in the white wine and let it reduce for 5 minutes – stir so it doesn’t catch on the bottom. Then add the stock along with the bay leaf, thyme sprigs and the crisp bacon, and stir to combine.
- Return the chicken to the sauce and leave everything to simmer gently, covered, for about 45 minutes – depending on the size of the legs. The chicken doesn’t need to be completely covered by the sauce.Check the temperature of the legs to make sure they are cooked through – if they are very large, they may need a little longer.You can also turn the legs once during cooking; the skin isn’t meant to be crisp.
- Before serving, stir the fresh tarragon into the sauce and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Serve with mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, rice or pasta, for example.
Nutrition
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