Pan fried Chicken in a Mushroom and Cream Sauce

I ripped this recipe out of a magazine years ago and it is so simple it needs to be in my blog, although I do think it needs more time than many recipes so perhaps one to cook at the weekend or on a day off.   Tasty juicy chicken thighs and drumsticks make this an inexpensive feast .  I used chestnut mushrooms mixed with some inky black field mushrooms, served with steamed buttery baby spinach. 

Ingredients

2 tbsp sunflower oil

6 large, free-range chicken legs, halved at the joint so you have 6 thighs and 6 drumsticks

700ml chicken stock

50g butter

1 onion, finely diced

400g mixed mushrooms

200ml dry white wine

250ml pot double cream.

Method

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Fry the thighs for 8-10 mins, skin side only, until golden brown, then transfer to a casserole dish. Fry the drumsticks for about 5 mins each side and add them to the thighs.

Pour the stock over the chicken legs in the casserole. Bring stock to the boil and cover, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook at just below simmering point for 30-35 mins until chicken is cooked.

While chicken is simmering, drain oil from the pan. Heat the butter in pan and add onion. Sweat onion for 5 minutes until soft, but not coloured. Turn up the heat, add the mushrooms, then fry for 3 minutes until they soften and start to smell wonderful. Pour over the white wine, raise the heat to maximum and boil rapidly for 6-8 minutes until reduced by two-thirds. Turn off the heat and leave until chicken has cooked.

Once chicken legs are cooked, strain stock into pan with the onion, mushrooms and white wine, bring back to the boil and reduce again by two-thirds until it is thick and syrupy. Pour in double cream, bring it to the boil, season if you want, then pour it over chicken. Heat chicken through in the sauce for 2-3 minutes then turn off the heat and leave for a few minutes before serving.