Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast
If you are looking for an Elegant but Easy Dinner? This mushroom stuffed chicken recipe is rich, comforting, and perfect for entertaining or everyday meals. (Letting the mushrooms rest in hot water for an hour is the reason for extra time. But this time can also be taken up with ingredient prep and some of the cooking.)
Equipment
- Heavy bottomed frying pan
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Silicone spatula or
- Wooden spoon
- Small bowl for soaking morels
- Fine mesh strainer
- sturdy toothpicks
Ingredients
- 4 skinless chicken breasts
- 6 shallots thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup sparkling dry wine or champagne
- 3 tablespoons brandy
- 1½ cup fresh morel mushrooms chopped
- 1½ oz OR dried morels
- 4 oz button mushrooms thinly sliced
- ¾ cup thick cream
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup chicken stock
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- sturdy toothpicks
Instructions
- Fresh morels rinse them under running water in a strainer.
- If dried: rinse well, soak in warm water for 20 minutes, strain, and save the soaking liquid.
- For both dried or fresh morels place them in a heavy-bottomed pan with the stock and bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and leave to stand for about 1 hour
- While the mushrooms stand in the hot water for 1 hour, move forward to measuring the other ingredients, chopping the shallots and Step 3 preparing and cooking the chicken. This will go a long way to reducing the total recipe time by an hour.
- Strain the morels through a fine sieve and keep the liquid
- Slice the morels but keep a few whole ones aside for later
- Melt half the butter in a heavy bottomed pan and sauté the shallots until they are soft but not browned.
- Add the morrels and the button mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
- Season at this stage and add the brandy and ⅓ of the cream.
- Reduce the heat and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Remove this mixture from the pan and keep aside until cool.
- Prepare the chicken breasts for stuffing by making a pocket in each one - cut a slit along the thick edge, but do not cut all the way through.
- Fill each of the chicken breasts with some of the morel mixture and close the slit - use a toothpick if necessary.
- Melt the remaining butter along with the olive oil (this prevents the butter from burning) and cook each of the chicken breasts for about 10 minutes until golden brown on each side. Turning the stuffed breasts carefully.
- Arrange the chicken breasts on a warm plate and set aside.
- Add the wine or champagne to the pan and boil, reducing it to half.
- Add the strained morel cooking liquid and boil again and reduce by half.
- Add the remaining cream and thyme. Simmer the sauce until it thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Taste the sauce at this stage and add seasoning if necessary.
- Return the chicken to the pan with any juices, along with the whole morels, and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
- And there you have it – Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Morels – a thoroughly beautiful meal made in your own kitchen!
Notes
- Don’t rush the browning, the color = flavor.
- If the sauce reduces too much, add a little stock.
- Taste as you go. French cooking is all about adjusting seasoning and ingredients.
- If using dried morels, strain the soaking liquid twice to remove grit.
- A tiny squeeze of lemon at the end brightens the whole dish.
- If serving guests, warm the plates; it keeps the sauce silky longer.
- This sauce is divine on scrambled eggs the next morning.
Nutrition
Calories: 494kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 30gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 155mgSodium: 365mgPotassium: 884mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 1053IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 4mg
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