This is a classic french style recipe which my mother gave me in the seventies and I still cook. It was a favourite of my father who was a great francophile. It is easy enough for family gatherings but also qualifies as posh grub for friends. Some of ours will be getting it this weekend.
Chicken Marengo
1 free range chicken jointed - I prefer to get a whole chicken though,of course, you can do this with ready portions. But if you want to use breasts, divide them in half as they are often very large. If you use a whole chicken cut up into 6 or 8 pieces, you will have enough to feed 4 people very generously or 6 easily. If you do the jointing in advance, you can put the back and the hard bits off the legs into a pan, cover with water, add salt and any veg you have, eg a carrot an onion etc and a bay leaf and then simmer an hour or more. This will give you stock to use in the recipe.
Tomato paste and a small tin of chopped tomatoes
8 oz mushrooms
1/2 cup of stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
Clove garlic
2tbspns flour
Bouquet garni
S&P
4 tbspns oil plus a knob of butter
Brown joints in hot oil in a large pan.
Remove to an oven casserole dish and add flour to your frying pan, first tipping out all but a spoonful of oil- cook gently for a couple of minutes, adding the crushed garlic too.Add the liquids, the chopped mushrooms and the tomatoes - use about a dessertspoon tomato paste and taste near the end as tins vary in taste impact. The sauce should be thick. If you are using the whole chicken in pieces, or enough pieces for 6, add a little more flour, extra wine and stock but take care not to make the sauce thin.
Pour over the chicken and cover.
Cook for a minimum of 2 hours at No 4/5; for 3 hours at No 3; or for no limit at the coolest setting you have which is the best. I start it for an hour on No 4 and then when it is definitely simmering, turn it to 'slow cook' for another 3 hours. Taste at the end to make sure the sauce is right.
Chicken Marengo
1 free range chicken jointed - I prefer to get a whole chicken though,of course, you can do this with ready portions. But if you want to use breasts, divide them in half as they are often very large. If you use a whole chicken cut up into 6 or 8 pieces, you will have enough to feed 4 people very generously or 6 easily. If you do the jointing in advance, you can put the back and the hard bits off the legs into a pan, cover with water, add salt and any veg you have, eg a carrot an onion etc and a bay leaf and then simmer an hour or more. This will give you stock to use in the recipe.
Tomato paste and a small tin of chopped tomatoes
8 oz mushrooms
1/2 cup of stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
Clove garlic
2tbspns flour
Bouquet garni
S&P
4 tbspns oil plus a knob of butter
Brown joints in hot oil in a large pan.
Remove to an oven casserole dish and add flour to your frying pan, first tipping out all but a spoonful of oil- cook gently for a couple of minutes, adding the crushed garlic too.Add the liquids, the chopped mushrooms and the tomatoes - use about a dessertspoon tomato paste and taste near the end as tins vary in taste impact. The sauce should be thick. If you are using the whole chicken in pieces, or enough pieces for 6, add a little more flour, extra wine and stock but take care not to make the sauce thin.
Pour over the chicken and cover.
Cook for a minimum of 2 hours at No 4/5; for 3 hours at No 3; or for no limit at the coolest setting you have which is the best. I start it for an hour on No 4 and then when it is definitely simmering, turn it to 'slow cook' for another 3 hours. Taste at the end to make sure the sauce is right.
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