Rich, Comforting Chicken Savoyarde

Tamasin Day-Lewis’ Chicken Savoyarde recipe appeals to me for more than one reason.

Firstly, the initial part of the process is essentially how I already poach a whole chicken, so the recipe lends itself very well to being made with leftovers. (I’m sure it would work with roast chicken leftovers too).

Secondly, it features chicken, cheese, cream, white wine, mustard, bread and tarragon – what’s not to like?

And thirdly, a friend made it for me for dinner once, and I absolutely loved it!

I adapted Tamasin’s recipe by poaching my chicken in my usual slow cooker way and using only half of the meat from my smaller whole chicken, along with some of the poaching liquid stock. I also switched both the parmesan and gruyere to comte, as I had some in the freezer. And lastly, I substituted dried tarragon for fresh, as the supermarket was out of stock when I went to buy some. Apparently, there’s been a shortage!

ChickenSavoyarde-0733

This is a very simple dish and doesn’t take long to make, especially if you have a food processor to grate the cheese and make breadcrumbs.

 

Chicken Savoyarde

Adapted from original Tamasin Day-Lewis recipe, here.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
350-400 grams leftover roast or poached chicken meat, chopped into bite sized pieces
40 grams breadcrumbs
25 grams comte cheese, grated
butter, for greasing
For the sauce
45 grams butter
35 grams plain flour
300 ml chicken stock, heated
190 ml dry white wine
170 ml double cream
75 grams comte cheese, grated
2 heaped teaspoons French mustard
2 level teaspoons dried tarragon
salt and pepper, to taste

ChickenSavoyarde-0723

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 210 degrees C.
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Keep the heat low to medium, to avoid browning.
  • Add the warm chicken stock, the white wine and the cream and stir thoroughly to combine with the flour and butter roux.
  • Stir in the cheese, mustard and tarragon. Taste and adjust seasoning.

ChickenSavoyarde-0725

  • Cook for a further 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly.
  • Meanwhile, butter a gratin dish and spread the chicken meat across the bottom.
  • Pour the sauce over the chicken.

ChickenSavoyarde-0727 ChickenSavoyarde-0729

  • If you are preparing the dish ahead of time to bake later, stop at this stage and store the dish in the fridge until ready to cook. Whilst the oven preheats, finish the preparation, as follows.
  • Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and cheese evenly over the surface of the sauce.

ChickenSavoyarde-0730 ChickenSavoyarde-0732

  • Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling around the edges.

ChickenSavoyarde-0734 ChickenSavoyarde-0736

This is fabulously delicious, though not one for those watching waistlines! We used the chicken fat skimmed off the poaching liquid stock to roast some potatoes to serve with the chicken.

 

Please excuse the poor quality of images, they were taken on my ancient mobile phone!

 

I’m submitting this to Can Be Bribed With Food’s new Love Food Hate Waste challenge and Fabulicious Food’s Family Friendly Fridays event.

bribedwithfoodlovefoodhatewaste badge-familyfriendlyfridays

Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!
6 Comments to "Rich, Comforting Chicken Savoyarde"

  1. Dominic

    oh god Kavey this is stunning!… I just want you to come and cook this for me now… creamy and chickeny and heavenly… oh my goodness yes please!

    Reply
  2. KSalty

    I love Tamasin D-L, she’s a brilliant food writer and this looks all kinds of comforting and delicious for a day like today. Fingers crossed tarragon makes a reappearance soon!

    Reply
  3. kaveyeats

    Tandra, double cream is fresh dairy cream with a high fat content. Hope that helps.

    Reply
  4. Peigi

    What a great recipe. Made it tonight. It was straightforward to make and tasted delicious. I will definitely make it again. Thank you

    Reply

Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *