SKILLET CHICKEN WITH CREAMY 1912 STILTON® SAUCE
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken breast, ideally skin on
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 8 small round shallots, skinned & halved
- 2 cloves garlic, skin on but flattened
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 20g salted butter
- 125ml full fat creme fraiche
- 40g 1912 Artisan Stilton (plus a little extra), crumbled
- Flaky sea salt
- Eat with oven fries & sautéed greens (spinach, chard, kale, cavolo nero).
Introduction
I love a sauce made quickly in the pan in which you’ve been cooking your centrepiece. This is one of those. It scores extremely highly on the effort: reward scale.
That’s largely thanks to the cheese. I’ve used 1912 Artisan Stilton®, a layered, tangy & ultimately really flavourful example of this PDO cheese, which has been produced by a farmer-owned cooperative in Leicestershire for over 100 years.
You could make this sauce having just cooked a beef steak, pork chop or some meaty mushrooms. But I reckon it’s a (perhaps surprisingly) GREAT match for chicken too, which cooked in this way can be both golden-topped & juicy. Give it a go!
Ed – @rocketandsquash
Method
1. Set a small heavy-bottomed pan/skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the oil, shallots & a pinch of salt & fry for 3 minutes so the shallots begin to colour.
2. Push shallots to one side & lay the chicken breast skin side down. Add the butter so it foams around the chicken & shallots. Fry for another 4-5 minutes so the skin colours nicely. (For thighs, cook skin side down for 8 minutes). Flip the chicken, cook for 2 minutes more before adding around 100-150ml of water — halfway up the chicken — & let that simmer & steam for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the breast, until the meat is springy-firm to touch.
3. If you prefer, you could also slide the chicken into the oven for 5-10 minutes with the chips.
4. Transfer the cooked chicken to a warm plate to rest for 4 minutes while you make the sauce.
5. Ensure there’s at least a ladle full of liquid in the pan. Increase the hob temp. Add the creme fraiche & stir-in. Crumble-in the Stilton, stir & reduce until coats the back of a spoon.
6. Slice the chicken, season, then divide between two plates. Spoon the shallots & sauce near the meat, add fries, sautéed greens. Enjoy!