Bresse chicken, morels, and yellow wine

The Doubs area is in the east of France, between the Jura and Switzerland, and is blessed with good products such as the Bresse chicken. These birds with red combs, white feathers and dark blue feet symbolise the French flag. Their special treatment makes them a reference in gastronomy.

The yellow wine is a strong kid of wine with a taste close to sherry and morels are just one of the many mushrooms that grow in the area.

This combination, with rich cream from the local cows such as the Montbéliard race, is a classic of French cuisine. I nevertheless felt an urge to change the recipe that I was using, as it cooked all pieces of chicken for the same length of time and added the cream far too early to my liking. It started to brown the chicken pieces before a longish period of cooking in a sauce.

• First cut the chicken in part, four to eight depending on the size of the bird and the number of people.
• Slightly wash the fresh morels, or thaw frozen morels or soak dried mores for 30 minutes in lukewarm water.
• Put butter in a skillet with high rim and brown the pieces of chicken in batches, as they need to completely touch the bottom of the pan.
• Then remove the chicken pieces, pour off the fat, clean the pan with a paper towel and put the chicken back.
• Pour two glasses of yellow wine over the chicken and bring to the simmer. Cook for at least 20-25 minutes and add water, stock or white wine when there is not enough liquid.
• When the breast parts are nearly done (test with fork or tip of a knife), take them out and continue with the tougher pieces such as the legs (whole or in parts).
• At this stage you can slice some morels and put them under the skin of the breast pieces, when the legs are done, ditto.
• In the now empty pan, with the remainder of the cooking liquids, add the morels with any of their liquid.
• Add yellow wine if needed and simmer for another 10-15 minutes at low heat.
• Then add the cream and stir into a sauce.
• Either put the pieces of chicken back in the pan, season with salt and white pepper or put the chicken in a serving tray, season, and pour the sauce and morels over the chicken pieces