Chicken with mushrooms and Sherry Wine Sauce
Chicken with mushrooms and Sherry Wine Sauce
Serves 4-5:
- 4-5 large chicken breasts, skin removed (you should have about 1 kg of meat)
- a handful of dried porcini mushrooms (soaked in warm water for 20-30 minutes)
- 25 g of unsalted butter
- 200-250 g of firm button mushrooms (or any other wild mushrooms of your choice)
- 120-150 ml of Sherry Wine (you can use dry white wine instead, which will result in a sauce with a much milder flavour)
- 400 ml of double cream
- a few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
- salt
- pepper
Drain the porcini mushrooms and reserve the soaking liquid. You will need about 100 -150 ml of it for further cooking.
Wash and cut the button mushrooms into smaller pieces.
Season the breasts with salt and pepper .
In a large frying pan melt the butter over a medium heat until it is foaming. Add the chicken breasts and colour on both sides for about 4 minutes each. Remove from the pan and reserve.
In the fat remaining in the frying pan, soften the button mushrooms for 2 minutes and add porcini (cut into smaller pieces if needed).
Pour the wine into the pan and cook until almost evaporated . Pour in the cream, the reserved liquid after soaking the porcini and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, season with salt and pepper and add the picked thyme leaves.
Transfer the chicken breasts into the pan (along with any juices that have been released while the meat was resting) and simmer for about 10-20 minutes. The cooking time depends on the thickness and the size of the chicken breasts. Baste the meat frequently with the sauce and turn it avery now and then which will help the flesh to stay moist.
Taste the sauce and season to your liking.
If the sauce hasn’t thickened enough remove the meat (and keep warm on the side) and carry on cooking the sauce until it reaches the desired consistency.
Put the meat back on the pan and gently heat through.
