Chicken with morels and asparagus (Poulet aux morilles et asperges)
Wild mushrooms are best in the autumn and morels in the spring. Asparagus is one of my favourite ingredients in the springtime. This recipe makes the most of both using a fricassee method, which is (roughly) a combination of a sauté and a stew. You can use white or green asparagus, but make sure that they are not the thin varieties (including wild asparagus) as they will be lost in the dish. As an option, you can add potatoes as well.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts bone-in and skin on or 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces
- kosher salt as needed
- freshly ground black pepper as needed
- 2 tbsp Grapeseed Oil
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 16 Garlic Cloves unpeeled
- 6 small Shallots peeled and trimmed
- 1/3 cup Dry White Wine
- 12 large Fresh or re-hydrated Morels cleaned
- 1 bunch Fresh Asparagus cleaned and trimmed
- 2-3 Fresh French Thyme Sprigs
- 2 cups Homemade or low-sodium Chicken Stock
- 1 Crispy Baguette or Boule
- 12-14 New Potatoes optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F(190°C)
- Season chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Clean and trim asparagus (trim the bottoms and peel off the outer layer about one inch from the spear). Cut into pieces about 4 inches in length.
- Place a large ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the pan is warm, add grapeseed oil. Add the chicken, skin-side down, to the skillet. Cook chicken until you have reached a deep, golden brown colour on both sides (use tongs to turn the chicken over). Do not rush this step.
- Using tongs, remove the chicken from the skillet and place the chicken on a plate. Lower the heat to a medium flame. Pour off the cooking fat from the pan into a bowl/container to discard later.
- Add butter to the pan. Add garlic and shallots. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add morels. Add a pinch of kosher salt. Toss morels in butter and cook until the moisture has been cooked out of mushrooms.
- Add white wine to the pan. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any fond from the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 cup of stock. Reduce liquid by half. Add asparagus. Return chicken (skin-side up) to the pan. Add the rest of the chicken stock (Add more chicken stock if necessary as asparagus needs to be covered; the chicken should not be.) Add thyme. Bring to a boil. Turn off the flame.
- Place skillet in oven. Bake, uncovered until the chicken and potatoes (if you are adding those) are cooked. This will take about 25-30 minutes.
- Carefully remove the skillet from the oven. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Discard. Adjust the seasoning to suit your taste. Add the fresh thyme.
- You can place the skillet on the table and serve it family-style or plate individually by giving each guest a chicken breast with vegetables and garlic.
- Serve with crispy bread that has a good crust.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!