An easy-to-cook fusion chicken dish that combines classic French, well technically Burgundian, cooking with Cajun swagger; creaminess and a spicy kick.
This dish is unapologetically non-authentic; a hybrid of classic French cooking (yes, okay, technically we should actually say Belgian because it's a cooking tradition from the old Duchy of Burgundy) with lessons learned from what it later became in Cajun hands. I took my love of both cuisines and came up with this recipe that I've tweaked over the years.
A bit like a collision between a gumbo and Burgundian chicken in white wine, it's a hearty, relatively healthy dish akin to a casserole, but cooked on the hob. Unlike true gumbo—or, indeed, coq au vin—this dish does not involve thickening with a roux.
A couple of minor points to note. My recipe calls for the chicken to be cut into fairly large fillet pieces. The end result will be a bit like "pulled" pork in texture—without anyone actually having to do the pulling. Don't cut them smaller than this. If you do, the natural "flaking" that occurs during the slow cooking process means you'll end up with something more akin to a thick chicken soup than the intended casserole-like result.
The reason for the sheer range on the Cajun spice is simple: how spicy do you like it? As a guideline, 3 tbspns, added all at the beginning of the cooking nets out in a delicious, rich and fragrant dish but most definitely not "hot". Personally, something of a fire beast, I tend to use 4 tbspns of the Cajun spice at the start of the dish and add an additional 2 (or 3) tbspns in the later stages of the cooking (step 9 below). This results in a certain "rawness" to the spices because they don't have as long to cook in, but, hey, some of us love spicy...
Similarly, the relish—which is actually optional—calls for the use of ground dried mint and parsley. Don't use fresh instead. Better to forego it than fail to achieve what the specific process of drying does to these herbs.
It's not a difficult dish to make but it is one that's best slow-cooked, so one for when you're not in a hurry. End to end, if you're including the time for making the mirepoix, we're talking two hours. I describe it as one of my "writer's dishes": dishes that are great to cook while you're writing because once you've got them on the go, they need only minimal intervention every 20 mins or so, leaving you free to get on with writing in the interim.
This recipe serves 2 to 3 adults. You do the maths for other dining parties.
Shopping list
Approx. 2 cups of mirepoix
3 breasts of chicken, cut vertically into sizeable fillets
7 cloves of garlic, diced
The juice and pulp of 1 fresh lime
Approx. 125g of smoked bacon lardons, thickly cut
About 3 to 4 tbspns of peanut oil or butter if you prefer
Chicken stock; fresh, cube or jelly as a total 250ml hot liquid
A pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Approx, 150g brown closed-cup mushrooms, cut into thick "rustic" slices
½ a bottle of dry white wine
3 to 6 tbspns of Cajun spice mix; decent store-bought or make your own (1 tspn each of paprika, ground cumin, ground dried chilli and dried basil and a pinch of cayenne pepper, all ground with pestle and mortar)
Approx. 75ml single cream (optional)
French bread or baguettes as an accompaniment (or rice if you prefer)
2 tbspns of butter, softened (not melted)
2 tspns cornflour (if needed)
½ tspn brown sugar
2 tbspns ground dried parsley (not fresh)
2 tbspns ground dried mint (not fresh)
3 tbspns wine vinegar
Cooking Method
the mirepoix
You can make the mirepoix immediately before cooking the dish or days before, even freezing it as long as fully defrosting before cooking this dish
To a deep pot with a lid, add chopped celery, carrots and onions, roughly twice the ratio of onions to the other ingredients. Add a liberal dousing of olive oil and cook on a medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. The important thing is to prevent browning/caramelising. It usually takes about 20 mins to cook, ensuring the onions are translucent and all the veggies are soft. You can reduce the heat, cover and allow to simmer during the second half of the cooking process, as long as you still stir it occasionally. Don't add salt or pepper to the mirepoix itself. Save that for the dishes you cook using it
Once cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool (and decant to sealed dishes for the fridge or freezer if not using immediately)
the dish
In a deep pot with a lid, heat the oil (or butter if preferred). Add just over half of the cubed garlic and sizzle on a high heat, stirring to prevent sticking. After a few minutes, add the lardons and cook on a high heat. You're not expecting the lardons to fully crisp, but to be fairly well cooked, certainly thoroughly sealed
As soon as the garlic begins browning, add the chicken, turning to ensure it's sealed on all sides. When about halfway through this process, add the Cajun spices to the pot and stir into all of the ingredients. There should be enough fat and juices from the lardons to prevent the spices from sticking to the bottom of the pot. If not, add a dash of the white wine and loosen the spices from the bottom of the pot before the liquid cooks off. Add the lime juice and its pulp and allow to cook in
Once the chicken is fully sealed, add the mushrooms and stir in. When the mushrooms are fully coated in the juices, reduce the heat to medium and stir. Once the mushrooms begin to release moisture, add another generous dash of wine. Stir, cover and allow to cook for 4 to 5 mins
When the mushrooms show the first signs of softening, add the mirepoix to the pot and stir in gently. Cook for a few minutes, then pour in half of the remaining wine, stirring thoroughly. Allow the wine to come to a simmer
Slowly add the chicken stock, increasing the heat briefly until the liquid comes to a moderate boil. Boil for no more than 3 or 4 mins. Season with a little salt (if desired) and fresh black pepper. Cover the pot and reduce to the minimum temperature that sees the liquid still barely simmering
Cook covered for about 50 mins on a very low heat, stirring every 15 to 20 mins unless it becomes dry—which is very unlikely—in which case, add a little more wine. After about 50 mins, add the remainder of the white wine and simmer for a further 15 to 20 mins, occasionally stirring. By this point, the chicken should have notably begun to flake. This is part of the plan. Add the remaining cream, but do not stir in. Cover and allow to simmer for a further 8 mins or so
While the ingredients are cooking, in a small heatproof cup or bowl mix the dried parsley and mint together and pour in just enough boiling water to "revive" the herbs, stirring in and dissolving ½ a tspn of brown sugar, stirring into the mix. Add the wine vinegar and mix all together. Stand and allow to cool
While the contents of the pot continue to cook on a low heat, mix the remaining chopped garlic with the softened butter using a spoon. Slice the baguettes/French bread ¾ of the way through in thick "slices". You're making classic garlic bread: spread a liberal amount of the butter and garlic mix between the "slices" using the spoon and cook in a pre-heated, very hot oven for about 10 mins. You can go the whole hog and wrap it in tin foil. I usually don't bother. Just keep an eye on it to prevent it burning
While your bread is being heated, stir the cream at the top of the pot into the ingredients. If, after simmering for a few minutes, the sauce is not as thick as you would like it, sprinkle in the cornflour and increase the heat to medium, gently stirring. It should begin to thicken within 4 or 5 mins. Once your sauce achieves the desired consistency, remove from the heat and rest briefly
Plate the chicken, add a dash of the parsley and mint relish to the centre of the plated dish and take to the table with the piping hot garlic bread. Bon apetit!
Alternatives
Vegetarian: the simplest—still my favourite—veggie option is to simply double up on the mushrooms and to use a large fennel (with the stalky bits discarded) cut into large irregular chunks. Obviously, don't add the lardons, but add the fennel where this recipe adds the chicken, followed by the mushrooms. Otherwise cook as per the recipe above, substituting the chicken stock with vegetable. Though, it will not need to cook as long, so adjust the overall cooking time based on the fennel and mushrooms' consistency and flavour.
Vegan (and lactose-intolerant and low-cal ): Replace the chicken and lardons with veggies and swap out the stock as above—and stick to the peanut oil not the butter. The cream in this dish is essentially a naughty luxury. Although without it the default consistency will be more akin to a thick broth, the flavour remains great. Simply add an additional teaspoon of cornflour when thickening the sauce and stir for longer to thicken the sauce. It's all good.
Pescatarians: I've done great fishy versions of this dish; the white wine so ideal for it. But, fish is trickier, essentially requiring a slightly different cooking process. So, without going into all the variations, here's my all-time best pescatarian version:
Add a small tin of anchovies preserved in oil where you do the lardons above. Follow this with 1.5 times the mushrooms then the mirepoix. Add the wine and veggie stock and simmer all of this for about 30 mins. Only once this has reduced, add your desired mix of fish (I usually use"fish pie mix" — cold, salmon and smoked haddock)
If adding large prawns in their shells, add only at the stage you add the cream i.e. no more than 10 to 15 mins before plating
Accompaniments
As here, I really love this recipe with that Cajun go-to of garlic bread. But, naturally, it's also great with rice or bulgur wheat.
Other sides: this dish is great with steamed green beans, petit pois or roast pumpkin as an additional side dish. But, I've stopped doing any sides with it unless I'm "stretching" it for a bigger group because somehow I always find it an unexpectedly filling dish and always ended up with a lot of leftovers when I did it with sides.
Pairings
The Cajun spices and embedded white wine make me particularly partial to enjoying it with a good South African chenin blanc with all those peppery, spice notes with twangs of sub-tropical fruit.
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