Chris Howard from The Humble Onion shares his recipe for juicy, pan-seared chicken with crispy skin in a full-flavoured mushroom sauce using just a few ingredients.

Preparation: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins  Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 x WA free range boneless chicken breast fillet (skin on)
• 1 garlic clove
• Few sprigs of thyme
• 100g butter (soft)
• Neutral cooking oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Sauce

• 150g chicken stock reduction
• 120g mushrooms (large chunks of assorted, Asian variety)
• 80g white wine
• 50g sherry
• 30g Dijon mustard
• 100g butter (cold, cubed)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Season the skin side of the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in an oven-safe pan over medium-high heat.
4. Carefully place chicken skin-side down into the pan, turning the heat to low-medium to avoid burning the skin.
5. Apply light even pressure to the chicken to ensure the skin is completely submerged in the oil to guarantee even, crispy skin. Sear for 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Once the skin gains colour, add the garlic clove, thyme a tablespoon of butter to the pan and place the entire pan in the oven for 7 minutes.
7. Take the chicken out of the oven and check how far along it is cooked. The colour of the chicken is one indicator of how cooked it is along with how firm the flesh is. The chicken should have a small amount of spring back when pushed into the thickest part of the breast.
8. Pour some of the cooking butter and oil over the flesh side in the pan to help the final cooking before turning, skin-side up, and placing onto a plate to rest for a minimum of 10 minutes.

Sauce

1. Sear off the mushrooms in a hot pan. (Leaving the mushrooms chunky allows the sauce that the mushroom will go in to act more like a vegetable side instead of a chunky gravy.)
2. Once the mushrooms are roasted, place them to the side in a bowl and return the pan to low heat.
3. Add the white wine to the pan and reduce it by half before adding the sherry and repeating the process.
4. Add the Dijon mustard and smooth out to a thickened paste before adding back the mushroom, and adding the chicken stock.
5. Simmer together for a moment before adding the cold butter to the pan, cube by cube. This process will thicken the sauce and add a beautiful sheen as well. Add one cube, swirl the pan until incorporated, another cube and repeat until all the butter is incorporated and the sauce is glistening and thick.
6. Season to taste.

To serve

1. To serve, fry the chicken skin-side down to give the skin a final crisp. Heat a non-stick frypan on a medium-high heat and add the remaining softened cooking butter, allow the butter to foam.
2. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook in foaming butter for a minute or so, spooning hot butter over the flesh side at the same time.
3. Remove from the pan and slice the chicken, seasoning in between slices.
4. Serve with mushroom sauce.

About The Humble Onion

Celebrating humble ingredients over extravagance, Chris has forged a career based on honouring sustainable and ethically sourced produce prepared with care.

From his early days at The Greenhouse under Matt Stone to stints at El Public, Cantina 663, Saffire Freycinet and The Town Mouse, Chris has headed up the kitchens at Panama Social and North Bird Dining Room before opening his first café.

The Humble Onion is a love letter to Howard’s childhood and his memories of his Nan’s pork pies and Sunday roasts – simple food cooked well that sparked his love of cooking as a young boy.

For more cooking inspiration, check out other recipes in the Kleenheat Kitchen.