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Poulet vallée d'Auge
Normandy chicken in a cider and cream sauce with buttery apples
The Pays d'Auge, the green orchard country around Lisieux and Pont-l'Évêque, puts its three great products into one pan here: apples, cider and thick Normandy cream. Chicken pieces are browned in butter, flamed with a splash of Calvados if you like, braised in dry cider with mushrooms and finished with crème fraîche, so the sauce is tangy, gently sweet and pale gold. It is a Sunday lunch dish, served with rice or steamed potatoes and wedges of apple caramelised in butter. The recipe uses cider and optional Calvados; alcohol-free swaps are in the ingredient notes. Chef's tip: choose a dry cider, because a sweet one makes the sauce cloying once it reduces.
- Total time
- 70 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the chicken
For the apples
To serve
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Pat 3 ⅛ lb chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin on dry and season with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper.
Step 2: Melt 1 ⅜ oz butter in a wide casserole over a medium-high heat and brown the chicken skin-side down first, turning once, until deep golden all over. Work in two batches: crowding the pan is the usual reason the skin steams and stays pale.
12 minStep 3: If using 2 ½ tbsp Calvados (apple brandy), pour it over the chicken off the heat, then carefully light it with a long match and let the flames die down. Lift the chicken out.
Step 4: Pour off all but 2 tbsp fat, add 3 shallots and 9 oz button mushrooms and cook over a medium heat until the mushrooms are golden and their liquid has gone.
6 minStep 5: Pour in 1 ¾ cups dry Normandy cider, scrape up the browned bits, add 3 thyme sprigs and return the chicken, skin-side up. Cover and simmer gently over a low heat.
30 minStep 6: Meanwhile, melt ⅔ oz butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, add 3 firm eating apples and 1 tsp caster sugar and cook, turning, until golden and just tender but holding their shape.
8 minStep 7: Check the chicken: the juices should run clear and the thickest part should reach 165°F. Lift it onto a warm dish.
Step 8: Boil the cooking liquid over a high heat until reduced by about half, stir in ¾ cup crème fraîche and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Taste for salt. Don't let the sauce boil hard once the crème fraîche is in for long, or it can split; keep it at a lively simmer.
6 minStep 9: Spoon the sauce over the chicken, arrange the apples around it and scatter with 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 44 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 46 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does poulet vallée d'Auge take?
- About 70 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 55 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
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