French Chicken Casserole from the inimitable Marco Pierre White

So I had the pleasure of being invited to ‘Season to Taste’ a wonderful Foodie festival organised by Unilever to celebrate the sort of food we eat today- right from street food to fine dining.

The place was abuzz with various stalls that had a mind boggling range of food. All the food influencers were a part of it- chefs from famous restaurants, food bloggers, people running community kitchens and even Michelin Star Chefs.

I got to attend one of the cooking demonstrations by Marco Pierre White where he displayed how to create a French Chicken Casserole from hob to plate in just about 15 minutes using a range of Knorr products.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast, diced - 600 gm
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Mace- 1/2 tsp
• Nutmeg- 1 pinch
• Madeira Wine- 50 ml ( optional)
• Clarified butter- 30 gm
• Flour- 25 gm
• Water- 225 mml
• Knorr Chicken stockpot- 1
• Wild mushrooms- 200 gm
• Double cream- 50 ml
• Micro Parsley- 10 gm
• Aromat- a few sprinkles

Method

1. He started off by warming up clarified butter to be used for cooking.

.

2. Then the season’s best wild mushrooms were chopped, drizzled with clarified butter and a dash of Aromat . Then they were out to grill in the oven to cook for about 10 minutes at 150C.

Aromat, a fantastic blend of spices and seasonings can be used instead of salt and as a condiment at the table. It is so versatile that you could even use it while cooking eggs instead of salt. It just takes the dish to an entirely different level.I’m really glad Marco introduced me to this product, it is now indispensable in my own kitchen- a substitute for salt, pepper and other flavoring- all in just one bottle.

I was not able to get a hold of any wild mushrooms so I just use chestnut mushrooms- those are my favourite everyday mushrooms. Get any mushrooms of your choice.

4. Dice the chicken breast.

5. Season with Aromat. Marco insists and proved that it does away with adding salt and any other flavouring. Let it marinate for 10 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, make the stock. Use a Knorr Chicken stock pot and add 550 ml of water to make a delicious stock. The Knorr stock pot is truly a God-send. Saves hours of toiling over the stove trying to make a stock.

7. Heat a large pan, add the chicken and fry for 5 minutes.

8. When slightly coloured, remove the chicken and keep aside.

9. Now for the roux. Marco showed the simplest way to make the perfect roux. His proportion of 30 gm clarified butter and 25gm of flour gets you a roux that is simple to make. star tby adding clarified butter to the same pan in which you fried the chicken.

10. And of course keep stirring it. He said that whisking is much better than using a wooden spoon for stirring. It prevents lumps. I gave a big pat to myself on the shoulder. That is what I believe in too. Great minds think alike.. see!

11. Keep whisking and stirring till mixed well cook for about 5 minutes and the roux changes to a sort of blonde colour.

12. Add in the stock slowly, whilst still stirring.

13. Add the chicken back to the pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and tender.

14.Top the cooked chicken with some micro parsley and plate up! Serve in little bowls

How pretty does that look! That was Marco’s Chicken

and this is mine!

Not bad eh!

I served it up with some Pan fried Gem lettuce for a wholesome meal.

Needless to say it was polished off in minutes. And my little fellow has asked for this recipe every weekend, especially since it can be cooked so quickly.

Thanks Marco for an excellent French recipe!