/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>12946535
Nope, sorry.

>>12946222
I don't happen to have an old rooster around. This is the city, heh. And I reduced first and then added just enough to thicken, maybe 1 1/2tbsp buerre manie total.

>>12946263
Thanks!

>>12946270
The whole washing mushrooms ruins them thing is a myth, right up there with searing meat locks in juices. I'm pretty sure French chefs just make junior cooks clean mushrooms with brushes to haze them.

>>12946271
You're right, the classic is hard to beat. But I think this just as delicious and as an added bonus can be chilled or even frozen as still tastes just as good.


I originally started this as a way to make the horribly shitty $.59/lb leg quarters that came in a 10lb bag frozen edible. I wanted something that tasted great on the cheap. I would debone the leg quarters, use the bones to make stock, render the skin for the fat, and use the meat to make this.

Over the years I've worked on refining the technique and flavor. And this is a recipe that's entirely my own, and that I'm damned proud of.


If you doubt me make it yourself!

>>12946036
By using thighs and a pressure cooker some gelatin is released, not to mention it was made with a home brew chicken stock that has TONS of gelatin (literally like jello out of the fridge).

And while schmaltz is great I'll take bacon fat over chicken fat every day.

A small amount plated for a quick snack, I'm actually making this to take for dinner with my family tomorrow. Even without a starch its fucking amazing.

And that takes me to the biggest reason for my coming up with this variation on the classic recipe!

While there are quite a few steps none of them are difficult. It doesn't take a terribly long time (about an hour and a half). Its cheap (under $20 for 10+ servings). And the flavor is EVERY BIT as good as the traditional method if not better!

But the biggest thing is that it keeps wonderfully. It can be (and is almost BETTER) chilled and then reheated. It freezes great. Perfect for packing a work lunch or a quick weeknight dinner while still keeping that amazing taste.

Combine back together and there we have it. My very unorthadox and nontraditional version of a French classic.

And finally add your beurre manie, a small spoonful at a time. Give it a minute and then add more until the sauce is your desired consistency. It should take on a beautiful reflective sheen.

Which for me is right about here. I don't want it watery, but also not too thick. Just enough to coat the back of a spoon.

As it comes to a simmer the fat will go to the outside. You can skim some, or all, or none at all. Entirely up to you but I personally leave it!

The idea here is to recuse the liquid by about 1/3, until it just starts to slightly thicken and stick to but not coat a spoon.

And we will do that by placing a colander over our skillet and emptying the contents of the pressure cooker into it, thus separating the cooked meat and veggies from the cooking liquid.

This is where we're at. While it doesn't look impressive the chicken is unbelievably tender, you can almost cut it with a fork. Carrots have maintained their shape, and mushrooms have wonderful flavor.

Our last task is to finish our sauce.

>>12945873
Okay, this is the first criticism so far that is totally correct. That being said I live with 4 housemates (rent is expensive here) and they would DESTROY my good stainless cookware like they did my dutch oven. Aside from a few decent knives my good kitchen stuff is in storage.

>>12945893
Try it yourself and be the judge.

Anyways, to finish our sauce we will use a beurre manie. This is simply a mixture of equal parts room temperature butter and flour.

Simply combine with a fork until all the flour is coated and it has a dough-like texture. I then wrap it in plastic and store it in the fridge or freezer until needed.

When added to any hot liquid it will not only thicken but give it a beautiful silky shine. Perfect for almost any sauce!

Add everything to the pressure cooker, including the carrots! Give it a stir, its fine if the liquid doesn't come completely to the top.

Set on high pressure for 10 minutes.

between the time for it to come up to pressure, cook for 10 minutes, and then 15 minutes for natural release you have plenty of time to clean your kitchen.

Finally add tomato paste and just cook off for a minute or so before adding the wine and stock!

And when I say add the wine, I mean the WHOLE BOTTLE. This is chicken with WINE dammit!

Leave wine and stock for a few minutes to cook off the raw alcohol taste. Basically until the steam coming off doesn't smell like booze.

Like so. When nicely colored add to the vessel and continue.

Empty into pressure cooker. Now to sear our thighs. Season lightly with kosher salt (remember the bacon is salty, we can always adjust later) and black pepper. Add thighs flat side down, and don't crowd the pan.

As before with the onions we don't want to cook the chicken, just get nice color.

When they're a beautiful color add the garlic and continue to cook for just another 30 seconds or so. We just want to remove the raw edge, not really color our garlic too much.

When the water is gone and the mushrooms take on some color add a generous chunk of unsalted butter.

I mean, this is FRENCH food. Obviously there will be butter involved.

Add the onions to the vessel of your pressure cooker, and in with the mushrooms! Add more of the reserved bacon fat if needed.

This whole time we've been over high heat. Mushrooms contain a LOT of liquid, and as it comes out you will have a ton of steam.

These we want a LOT of color on, color is flavor!

Our goal isn't necessarily to cook these onions, just soften them and get some nice color! This shot for some reason the white balance is way off, they were actually fairly brown.

Remove the bacon to a towel lined plate. Drain the majority of the grease into a small ramekin, we will continue adding it as the pan gets dry going forward.

Add your onions and start sauteeing!

Cook until very crispy. Protip: when the fat starts foaming up like this you're good.

>>12945647
See that's the thing, I'm actually NOT going to be slow braising this, heh.

>>12945646
Again, this is not a conventional way of making this.

Anyways, large skillet on high heat. In with BACON.

And prep all our ingredients! For the onions cut in thick wedges from root to stem. Garlic crush and mince. Mushrooms into nice thick quarters.

To make your carrot slices more attractive cut at a 45deg angle and roll the carrot 1/4 turn each cut. This will give you pieces with interesting shapes!

And of course bacon into strips. Kitchen scissors make this a much easier job.

We first prepare all our ingredients. start by washing your pushrooms.

Let's start with our cast of ingredients. We will be using:

3lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
6oz (about 1/2 package) thick-cut bacon
1lb mushrooms (Crimini here, they were on sale)
4-5 cloves garlic
1 cup homemade chicken stock
1 bottle wine
4-5 carrots
2tbsp concentrated tomato paste
Unsalted butter
2tbsp flour
Kosher salt and pepper
2 Bay Leaves
2tbsp thyme leaves

For the wine you can use whatever you like . . . but I prefer a mild red. In this case Pinot Noir. There's no need for anything fancy, but use something you would drink.

Boneless skinless thighs are an unconventional choice but work absolutely perfect in this recipe as we will be making use of a pressure cooker! I told you its a bit unconventional.

And yes, you will need a pressure cooker in the 5qt range.