Chicken Chasseur

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, with skin on

• Salt and black pepper

• 75g butter, cubed

• 3 shallots, finely chopped

• 120g button mushrooms, sliced

• 1 tbsp brandy

• 1 tbsp plain flour

• 200ml dry white wine

• 150ml hot Chicken Stock

• 1 tsp tomato purée

• 2 tomatoes chopped

• 1 tbsp chopped parsley

• 1 tbsp chopped tarragon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
2. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
3. Place a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, drizzle with oil and fry the breasts, skin-side down, for 5-8 minutes, or until the skin has browned on one side. Then, turn the breasts skin side up and continue cooking on low heat for a further 5 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Next, over a medium-low heat, melt 50g of the butter until foaming. Add the shallots and mushrooms and stir gently for 2 minutes.
5. Drizzle in the brandy, then carefully set it alight to burn off the alcohol. When the flames have gone out, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for one minute or so. 
6. Pour in the wine and stir well to deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits from the base of the pan, and smooth out any lumps.
7. Add the stock, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, parsley and tarragon, increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
8. Simmer, stirring, for 3–5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and the chicken is cooked through.
9. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
10. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter to finish the sauce.  Serve immediately.