French Chicken Apple and Cream Casserole

French Chicken Apple and Cream Casserole

Ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
1.2 kg chicken
50 grams plain flour
40 grams butter
WHITE CHICKEN STOCK
500 grams chicken bones
500 ml chicken stock
100 grams carrots
100 grams onions
2 cloves
50 grams celery
100 grams leeks
1 For the Sauce bouquet garni

FOR THE SAUCE:

25 grams Shallots
1 apple
25 ml calvados
100ml apple cider
250 ml chicken stock
150 ml pure cream
100 grams For the Garnish butter

FOR THE GARNISH:

2 apple
50 grams lemon
50 grams butter
5 grams sugar
100 grams pearl onions
10 grams butter
5 grams sugar
100 grams mushroom
10 grams butter
2 tablespoons For the seasonning Lemon juice

FOR THE SEASONNING:

to taste salt
to taste pepper

Directions:

1.START BY MAKING THE WHITE CHICKEN STOCK

peel, wash and cut the carrot, onion, celery stalks and leeks in a Mirepoix. then prepare a bouquet garni. when done , debone the chicken and reserve the meat in a tray for later use. cut now the chicken carcasses and wings in small pieces and reserve for the stock. (you can also use off the shelf chicken tights and buy a bag chicken bone separately.) when done, make a white chicken stock that has been reduced greatly to concentrate the flavors. (the link for the chicken stock recipe can be found in this recipe introduction)

2.SAUTE THE CHIKEN

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper then coat each piece in flour. melt 40 grams of butter on low heat in a cast iron dutch oven or equivalent and saute gently the chicken pieces until lightly colored on each side.when done cover your pan and continue to cook the chicken in the oven at 180 Celcius or 400 Fahrenheit.

3.PREPARE THE "VALLEE D'AUGE" GARNISH

peel wash and then white glaze the pearl onions. clean , trim and white cook the Mushrooms. was peel and finely slice the shallot. core and peel the apple, brush them with half a lemon ( to avoid them getting brown) then slice them in 1 centimeter thick slices. (make sure you reserve all of the the apple off cuts and chopped them in a brunoise (small cube) for the sauce later on.

4.PREPARE THE APPLES

add the 50 grams of butter in a frying pan and wait until the butter start foaming. add now the apple slices in the pan and saute them in butter until they are very lightly caramelized. Note: when cooked, the apples slices must only have a blond color and still be firm. reserve now in a plate or dish cover with foil an keep warm.

5.MAKE THE SAUCE

when the chicken is cooked, take the pot out of the oven, reserve the chicken pieces in a tray, cover with foil and keep warm while you are making the sauce. now remove the excess fat in the pan you used to cook the chicken, place the pan on the stove on medium heat and add the sliced shallots and the brunoise (little cubes of apple) you made previously. let the mix gently sizzle for a few minutes then flambee with the Calvados (apple brandy). add then the apple cider and let the mix reduce by 2\3. add now the filtered clean chicken stock, some of the cooking juices from the mushrooms and the cream. reduce again to a napping consistency. pass now the sauce trough a sieve and transfer in a clean saucepan (make sure you are pressing down the garnish in the sieve to get all of the juices out). once the sauce has been filtered and transferred in another pan, finish it off by incorporating the 10 grams of butter, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or whisk. that will give the sauce that extra polished taste and make it look nice and glossy.

6.DRESS UP THE CHICKEN AND SERVE.

Place the chicken pieces in a dish or individual plates, decorate the edges of the dish or plates with the caramelized apple slices.harmoniously place the garnish (mushrooms and glazed onions) around the chicken pieces then coat with a generous amount of sauce.

NOTE:
The poulet vallee d’auge is a saute chicken specialty from the Auge valley region in Normandie, northern France. Pieces of chicken are lightly browned then cooked and served with a sauce made out of a delicious blend of apple brandy liquor (calvados), cider, white chicken stock and cream. then garnish with mushrooms caramelized onions and apples.