Pan-Seared Chicken with Maitake Mushroom Cream Sauce

I love finding local treasures - especially foods produced close to home.  I recently discovered that a company is producing maitake mushrooms right around the corner from our house!  

Also known as "hen-of-the-woods" mushrooms, maitake are tasty and said to have cancer-fighting properties.  Here's an article about the local production facility here in London. 

The mushroom has a thick base but is topped with petal-like segments that are thin and delicate.  Cut off the base or pick off the tops to separate pieces easily. 

In this recipe the mushrooms are sauteed and then cooked with wine and cream into a thick, rich sauce served with crisp-skinned chicken.  It's delicious!

I cut the chicken into 8 parts - 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, and split each breast in two, keeping the wings on. I ended up taking the bone out of the breasts, which makes a lovely presentation. 

This isn't the most quick and simple recipe, but it's definitely doable for Sunday dinner and impressive for company.  I served it with roasted cauliflower, but it would be nice with a green salad or steamed broccoli.  

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
230g maitake mushrooms (or mushroom of your choice)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place them, skin side down, in the sizzling butter. Cook for 10 minutes until deeply browned, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes.  Remove chicken to a baking sheet and roast in the oven until cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, add the diced onion to the pan drippings and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the wine is mostly evaporated. Add the stock and cream and simmer about 10 minutes until thickened. 

Break apart the maitake mushroom.  Heat the last two tablespoons of butter in a separate pan and add the mushrooms. Cook until slightly browned, about 8 minutes. Toss the mushrooms with the cream sauce.

Put some mushrooms and sauce on the plate and place the chicken on top. Drizzle sauce over top. 

Enjoy!