What top chefs like to cook for themselves: Chicken chasseur

When top chef Shane Smith needs fuss-free comfort food, he heads straight for this retro classic

Shane Smith's Chicken Chasseur

Serves 4 

Ingredients 

• 8 pieces of chicken with skin on (you can choose thigh, drumstick or breast) 
• salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 80g plain flour 
• 2 tbsp oil 
• 100g butter 
• 100g streaky bacon, sliced 
• 150g button mushrooms 
• 2 shallots, sliced 
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 
• 150ml white wine 
• 300ml chicken stock 
• 2 tbsp tomato purée 
• 2 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped 
• 400g tinned tomatoes 
• 4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 

Method 

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Dust the chicken in the seasoned flour and fry on the hot pan with oil and butter until golden brown. (Note you are only sealing the chicken and not cooking it fully and if you are coeliac you can omit the flour) Place in a casserole dish and set to once side until the sauce is prepared.

To the same pan, add the bacon and button mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are golden brown.

Add the shallots and garlic and de-glaze with the white wine.

Reduce the heat and cook for a few minutes and add the chicken stock, chopped tarragon, tomato puree and tinned tomatoes.

Once warmed through, season with black pepper and pour over the chicken and place in the hot oven and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly and the sauce is reduced.

Check for seasoning and serve with chopped parsley and buttered mash potato.

• Shane Smith has been busy making Ireland's tastiest Christmas Advent Calendar over on his Instagram Page! Every day, he is sharing one recipe made using the best of Irish produce, aiming to inspire us to recreate it over Christmas and to highlight some of the stellar Irish producers he uses along the way.