Chicken Braised in White Wine

This is a new recipe that I tried. It comes from Lady Claire MacDonald’s Entertaining Solo (edit: Baroness now apparenty!) . The title doesn’t mean cooking for one, it means if you are single or if you do all the kitchen prep and cooking yourself it will help you by giving recipes that can be mananged by one person.

It’s a creamy wihite wine chicken dish boosted up in flavour by a little curry powder and chilli flakes. I thought it needed a little something so went looking for some mango chitney, but the cupboard was bare, it did however give up some apricot jam, so I added in a bit of that to balance out the chili and curry powder a bit.

I used only a scant ½ teaspoon of chilli flakes and thought it was quite hot, but I am a chilli wimp. Hubby liked the sauce very much and had what was left of it as ‘soup’ at the end! Claire suggested mashed potatoes or boiled rice to accompany it. I chose mashed potatoes, and made Nigella’s lazy mash from Feast (I won’t type out that recipe because probably most of us have a copy. Creamy curry sauce and mash, it was gorgeous! I have never eaten (never thought of it really) curry sauce with mash before, but it was a revelation how good it was! It’s one of the joys of cooking that a small change can give you a whole new avenue of possibilities.

Chicken Braised in White Wine

I use skinless chicken breasts and take extra care. The apricot jam or mango chutney is my addition, so just omit it if you would like to cook Claire’s recipe as it is. I used single cream because our local shop had sold out of double!

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 –6 Chicken Breasts with skin (I used skinless)
4 banana shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon plain flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ to 1 teapsoons chilli flakes, to taste
½ pint / 300ml dry white wine
½ pint / 300ml double cream
1 tablespoon apricot jam or mango chutney
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan (with a lid) and cook until the chicken is browned, remove to a warm dish (chicken won’t be cooked through yet). Add shallots to the pan and cook until they are soft and golden. Stir in the flour, curry powder and chilli flakes. Cook for a minute then add in the wine followed by the cream, stir until it bubbles up again and add in the jam or chutney, season the sauce with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and any juices back in and simmer over a gentle heat for 15 minute – or until the chicken is cooked.