Roast chicken served with a mushroom cream sauce. Easy to make, filling and delicious.
Here’s a family favorite for a weeknight dinner – chicken thighs, floured and browned and then baked, served with a creamy mushroom sauce. You can serve it with rice, or layer it over egg noodles and you’ll have something akin to a chicken stroganoff.
Years ago, when my mother was a young housewife with a husband and six rambunctious children to support, she taught herself to cook from various cookbooks popular at the time. One of her favorite books was Elena Zelayeta’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking, which is long out of print and was published in 1958. This recipe is adapted from a recipe for pollo con jocoqui (chicken with sour cream) in this book.
Elena’s original recipe calls for a whole chicken cut into pieces. We find it easier to use thighs – all the chicken pieces are cooked at the same time, and we prefer the flavor of thighs over breasts. You can use whole chicken pieces or chicken breasts. When using chicken breasts, be mindful of the timing—the white meat of chicken breast cooks faster than the dark meat of thighs or legs.
Chicken with creamy mushroom sauce
Before you begin the preparation, take the chicken out of the fridge and sprinkle about a teaspoon of kosher salt on all sides. Salting first helps bring out the flavor in the meat. Let sit for at least 20 minutes to take the chill out of the chicken.
ingredients
-
3 to 4 lb with bones, with skin chicken pieces (we used thighs), excess fat trimmed
-
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
-
1/2 Cup Flour, for digging
-
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
-
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
-
1 tablespoon butter
-
1/4 Cup chicken broth
-
1 small Onionchopped (about 1 cup)
-
3/4 lb fresh Mushroomsthickly sliced (I use cremini with a handful of shiitake for a more intense mushroom flavor.)
-
1 clove garliccrushed
-
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
-
1/2 Cup sour cream
-
1/2 Cup heavy cream
method
-
Turn chicken in flour:
Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
-
Preheat oven to 350°F
-
Roast Chicken:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken pieces, skin-side down, in the pan in batches.
The oil should be hot enough for the chicken pieces to sizzle once they’re in the pan, but not so hot that the chicken burns. You want the pieces to be lightly browned. Brown on all sides.
-
Baking chicken with broth in the oven:
Butter a frying pan. Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin-side up, in the pan. Pour chicken broth over and bake at 350°F until chicken pieces are cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F), about 25 to 30 minutes for 3 to 4 pounds of chicken thighs.
If you don’t have a meat thermometer, you can check doneness by piercing the largest piece of chicken with a sharp knife. If the juice is clear and not pink, the chicken is done.
-
Sauté onions and mushrooms:
Start cooking the onions and mushrooms about 20 minutes before you want the chicken to be ready. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer the onions from the pan to a bowl.
Add the mushrooms to the same pan with the crushed garlic and thyme. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the mushrooms until lightly browned. Add the onions back to the pan and, if you like, remove the crushed garlic clove (or leave it in, your choice).
-
Add sour cream and cream:
And add the sour cream and cream to the onions and mushrooms. Lower the heat. Keep warm but do not boil. Season with salt and pepper.
-
Serve chicken with mushroom sauce:
When the chicken is done, remove from the oven. Spoon onto a platter with the mushroom sauce or serve as a side dish.
Serve with pasta or rice.
From an adapted recipe for pollo con jocoqui (chicken with sour cream) in Elena’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking, published in 1958 by author Elena Zelayeta.
I know this recipe doesn’t seem to be typical of Mexican cuisine, but Elena mentions in her book that the people of Mexico have been influenced by many cuisines for hundreds of years – especially Spanish and French.
Another note on Elena Zelayeta, she was one of the first people to publish English language cookbooks on Mexican cuisine. Her books were popular in the 1940s and 50s. Elena was blind too. She went blind as an adult and after having children, but still managed to cook them for the family (she knew where everything was in her kitchen) and write cookbooks that became classics.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 614 | calories |
| 44g | Fat |
| 14g | carbohydrates |
| 44g | protein |
