A pure hunters classic, chicken chasseur was said to be a classical dish devoured by hunters after going hunting.
The dish was traditionally prepared with game meats, while it is also typically served with mushrooms, for which would be foraged while out hunting ones protein for the family.
Ingredients
1/2 a whole chook
Shallots
Meat stock
Pork render
Potato starch
Grapeseed oil
Season
Mixed herbs
Serving vegetables
200g potato
100g carrot
100g squash
A bunch broccolini
Mr brown and towns mushrooms, roughly 200g
Method
Turn your oven up to 160c.
Lightly baste your chicken in some oil, then place onto a large baking dish. Clean your potato’s (I like to leave skin on mine), mix them through a little oil, then place onto the baking tray with the chicken.
Rub on some of your herbs, and lightly season with salt and pepper. Place into the oven and bake for 1 hour.
In the mean time, prepare your other vegetables. Peel and chop carrots. Top, tail and quarter squash. Peel shallots. Clean mushrooms and brocolini.
After the given hour, turn oven up to 180c, then add carrot and shallots to baking try, mixing them through so they become lubricated with the pan juices. Now slide the tray back into the oven.
After another half an hour, mix through the mushrooms, squash, and broccolini with the same principle as the carrots and shallots, and continue to cook for another 15 – 20 minutes.
Now, your chicken should be cooked. If your confident, remove your chicken from the baking tray onto a suitable resting tray. Then do the same with your roasted garden of vegetables.
Take your roasting tray and place it over a hot plate, then turn it up to medium heat.
Once your tray starts to sizzle, splash on some stock and scrap away all the lovely crusty pan bits that are stuck to your pan. They will become lose when you apply the stock, then mix together.
Now, using a whisk, sprinkle over some of your potato starch and whisk it through the sauce. If its still too runny, add more starch. If it becomes too claggy, add some more stock back into it.
Season sauce with salt and pepper once your happy with the viscosity.
I would typically serve this in shared style, so…
Place your chicken in the centre of a large platter, then place vegetables around the outside of the chicken, with the mushrooms on top. Then lather it all with the sauce/gravy.
If your guests don’t like gravy, then they probably don’t deserve to be there.
‘No soup for you’ if you don’t like gravy at my house.
#Pickle pro-tip: I have left a lot of the weights for the side parts to this dish open, or vague even, for a good reason. I like my gravy very runny, yet you might like yours very viscous. I like potato’s more than mushrooms, yet mushrooms are a foundation element to this dish. Add more or less of just about anything to this dish, and go in a direction that suits you, as you are the chef.
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References-
Larousse Gastronomic
Tales of a Tassie Chef 