Drunken French Country Chicken Au Gratin

"An easy and delicious chicken dish with a few elegant touches here and there! The chicken is jointed (cut into pieces), sauteed and then grilled like a potato gratin in a sauce of cognac, wine, mustard and cheese. Serve this with a crisp fresh salad and pasta, or with seasonal steamed vegetables and rice. You can omit the cognac and wine and use apple juice if you wish - the taste will not be as sophisticated, deep or intense, but the chicken could be served to children this way! An ideal dinner party recipe or Valentine's day meal for two - just reduce the ingredients, or make the full amount and freeze the remaining portions. Recommended wine: Saumur Champigny."
 
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photo by wicked cook 46 photo by wicked cook 46
photo by wicked cook 46
Ready In:
1hr 10mins
Ingredients:
12
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Roll each piece of chicken in the flour, that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
  • Sauté until golden in a large frying pan, over a high heat.
  • Drain off any excess oil, then add the cognac and flambé - BE CAREFUL!
  • Add the smoked paprika, white wine and sugar, then mix well and leave to reduce over a low heat for 5 -10 minutes.
  • Add the crème fraîche and 100g of the grated cheese. Stir well, bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 12 - 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Season to tate with salt and pepper, remembering that the flour was seasoned!
  • Arrange the fried chicken pieces in a gratin dish.
  • Add the mustard to the sauce, whisk, then pour over the chicken.
  • Mix the remaining 40g of grated cheese with the breadcrumbs.
  • Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and cheese over the top of the chicken.
  • Grill (broil) the chicken in the sauce for 5 - 10 minutes to brown cheese and give a crusty, golden topping.
  • Serve with crisp fresh salad and pasta or, with rice and steamed seasonal vegetables. Recommended wine: Saumur Champigny.

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Reviews

  1. Quel plat magnifique simple. Made as stated except I cut back on the amount of chicken. And when French Tart says Be careful Flambe she means it LOL I have flambe before but this time WOW LOL I did cook the chicken longer then stated but didn't time it. Plus I sprinkled some Fleur De Sel on top just before serving Served with recipe#365349#365349 and for an appetizer recipe#337715#337715 and a French Baquette for a very nice French meal at home. Made for ZWT 5 French Region for the Zaar Chow Hounds
     
  2. The flavours were awesome, kinda of a BBQ, mixed with paprikash. I did have to bake it for thirty minutes to loose the rawness, and I added some chk stock to keep the sauce from drying up. I covered it with foil for this. Then I put the crumbs on and broiled. I used Gruyere cheese. I made it for my daughter's 39th B'day. There were no leftovers!!!
     
  3. This was delicious. I used 3/4 cup of cognac and I think that's the perfect amount. The breadcrumbs and cheese (I used Emmental) on top turned into a lovely golden crust. I also added a small amount of chopped leeks. I served this on top of rice. I will definately be making this again.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><strong><span>The sunflowers in the field behind my house in SW France:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Sunflowers src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/DSCN8221.jpg alt=Sunflowers width=640 height=480 /><br /><strong><span><br /><br />I am British (English-Scottish), but I was born in South Africa and have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong, Germany, Cyprus, USA &amp; Singapore. I have also been very fortunate to have travelled extensively over the years.........I still have wanderlust! <br /><br />I used to be an English Literature &amp; Art History teacher &amp; lecturer; before that, I trained and worked as a Graphic Designer for many years. I now live in France with my husband &amp; my daughter who has just started university in September 2006. We also have one very chatty Burmese cat Willow, who allows us to live with her here! (I used to have three cats, I recently lost Monty, a beautiful seal point Siamese and before that, Rama, who was a debonair blue point Siamese cat - I would love to have another Siamese cat or cats in the future!)</span></strong></p> <p><em><strong><span>This is my Burmese Cat, Willow, sunning herself on the log pile in the kitchen garden:</span></strong></em></p> <p><strong><img title=My src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/ABaconButtyandSundryFoodPhotos34.jpg alt=My width=640 height=480 /></strong></p> <p><strong><span>Here is my lovely Monty, a seal point Siamese, and Willow, sitting&nbsp;in the kitchen garden last year, and a few months before Monty died; he was 18yrs old:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Monty src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/AbsolutelySinfulStickyToffeePudding.jpg alt=Monty width=640 height=480 />My</p> <p><strong><span>This is my wonderful old boy, Rama, a blue-point Siamese, who died when he was 20yrs old - excuse the old and much sellotaped photo:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Rama src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Rama1stOctober2004164.jpg alt=Rama width=517 height=639 /></p> <p><strong><span>My favourite pastimes are: reading, writing, painting &amp; drawing, photography, gardening, anything creative, walking, travelling, dining out and of course COOKING! I love all types of cuisine, but especially Traditional British - and NO it is NOT all bad!! I particularly love food associated with the changing seasons plus traditional feasts &amp; festivals, as well as Slow Cooking. I also enjoy French &amp; North African cuisine, come to think of it, there isn't much I don't like! <br /><br />My husband &amp; I run a Chambres D'Hotes, (Bed and Breakfast) called Auberge de la Fontaine here in beautiful South West France; we specialise in Gourmet Food &amp; Wine Breaks, French Antiques &amp; Restoration courses, French Language courses and French Cookery classes. Our home is completely furnished with Antique French furniture that we have rescued &amp; restored ourselves. Our charming village has one of the oldest Churches in the region &amp; it is famous for its connection with the St.Jacques de Compostella Pilgrimage route, as well as being within the Cognac &amp; Bordeaux wine growing area. <br /><br />We have a wonderful garden where we grow ALL of our own herbs and most of our fruit and vegetables. I specialise in rare, unusual and old-fashioned herbs, which I grow in our walled garden. As well as growing herbs, I also grow many different varieties of lavender, old-fashioned shrub roses and heirloom fruit and vegetables. <br /><br />We have lived overseas for many, many years now - but we both still love going home to Northern England, near Scarborough &amp; York, to visit our family &amp; friends. We also love indulging in dining out when we are there, in a wide variety of EXCELLENT Gastro-Pubs that we have in North Yorkshire; and popping in to have a Pint of REAL ENGLISH ALE in our local pub is a always a must!! <br /></span></strong></p> <p><br /><a href=http://photobucket.com/images/merci%20beaucoup target=_blank><img src=http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp287/vi-vie15/Merci/hb09izl7.gif border=0 alt=merci /></a> <br /><br /><strong><span>A Message to all who make and review my recipes! I try very hard to reply to EACH and EVERYONE of you who kindly makes, reviews and photographs my recipes! However, sometimes I am so busy in the B and B, and with other things, that I may be late in sending a personal thank you message, and sometimes I forget completely! I would just like to thank you ALL in advance, and just in case I am late or forgetful in sending a personal thanks. I am always very humbled by anyone who chooses to make one of my recipes, and I love reading the reviews and seeing the beautiful photos that are posted. Merci beaucoup encore! <br /><br />A note about my recipes. All of my posted recipes, whether they be my own concoctions or adaptations from a book or a famous chef, have been tried and tested at least once, by ME! I try to make sure that I am the guinea pig and not you! However, if there is anything you would like ask me about one of my recipes, or a query that I may be able to help you with, please do write and I will try to answer your question as soon as possible. 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