Recipe Background
Chicken à la Normande actually tells you exactly what it contains, once you know what it means. " À la Normande" means "in the style of Normandy," and that typically means a luscious cream sauce filled with hearty mushrooms, crisp apples, and the sharp sweetness of brandy. As you might expect, Chicken à la Normande serves up all of that incredible sauce alongside succulent chicken thighs roasted and braised to a gorgeous golden-brown. The tender fruits and vegetables enhance the flavor of the poultry so much you'll always say "oui, oui" to more!
Chicken à la Normande actually tells you exactly what it contains, once you know what it means. " À la Normande" means "in the style of Normandy," and that typically means a luscious cream sauce filled with hearty mushrooms, crisp apples, and the sharp sweetness of brandy. As you might expect, Chicken à la Normande serves up all of that incredible sauce alongside succulent chicken thighs roasted and braised to a gorgeous golden-brown. The tender fruits and vegetables enhance the flavor of the poultry so much you'll always say "oui, oui" to more!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs or legs skin-on and bone-in
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 strips bacon chopped
- 4 shallots diced
- 1 rib celery diced
- 4-5 thyme sprigs divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons brandy or whiskey
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups hard dry apple cider
- 2 apples peeled, cored, and cut into wedges
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and salt it all over.
- In a large, rounded oven-safe skillet, brown the chicken in 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat until golden, about 4-5 minutes per side.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons of the rendered chicken fat, discarding the rest.
- Fry the bacon in the skillet over medium heat until the fat is rendered.
- Discard most of the bacon fat and transfer the cooked bacon to the plate with the chicken, reserving about 1-2 tablespoons in the dish.
- Top the skillet with the remaining bacon fat and add the shallots, the celery, and 2 sprigs of the thyme and cook over low heat until soft but not colored, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the brandy to the skillet and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, and cook until the alcohol burns off, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the flour and stir until it forms a paste.
- Slowly add the chicken stock to the skillet, constantly stirring until the mixture resembles a thick gravy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Pour the apple cider into the skillet, stirring to combine.
- Return the chicken and the bacon to the skillet with the remaining thyme sprigs.
- Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Cover the skillet and bake for 30 minutes.
- Uncover the skillet and cook until the chicken is cooked through at 165 degrees F, is tender, and the sauce has thickened considerably, about 30 minutes.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the reserved chicken fat.
- Add the apple wedges to the hot chicken fat and fry until golden, about 3-4 minutes. Be careful, as they can burn quickly.
- Transfer the skillet from the oven and stir in the heavy cream.
- Return the skillet to the oven and cook uncovered until the flavors have melded together, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the cooked apple wedges.
- Taste the dish for seasoning.
- Serve.
×
