Recipe: Normandy Chicken

the appetizer:

Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes by Vickie Smith, includes easy-to-make recipes like Normandy Chicken; Posole (Mexican Pork and Green Chile Stew); Halibut with Fennel, Purple Onions, and Yellow Tomatoes in Packets.

Cookbook

Normandy Chicken

Serves 4

One of my grandmother's favorite recipes was this dish featuring tender chicken served in a creamy mushroom sauce. This is her original version dating from the mid-1940s, rich with farm-fresh butter and cream from the family cow. The boneless, skinless chicken pieces are my substitution for the chicken thighs used in the original version.

1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 leeks
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup heavy cream

Mix together the paprika, pepper, and salt, and rub the spice mixture on both sides of the chicken breasts. Heat the butter in the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, cook until golden brown on both sides, remove to a cutting board, and cut the chicken into large bite-size chunks. Add the mushrooms and onions to the cooker and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Trim the coarse green ends from the leeks. Slit the leeks lengthwise and fan the leaves open under cold running water to remove all the dirt, and then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices and add to the cooker. Combine the stock, wine, and mustard in the pressure cooker and stir. Return the chicken pieces to the pressure cooker and lock the lid in place. Bring to 15psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and use the natural release method (see page 31 of the book) to depressurize. Carefully open the lid after the pressure drops. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving dish. Thicken the sauce by making a slurry with the cornstarch mixed with the cream; stir the slurry into the sauce and simmer over medium heat, stirring often as it thickens, but do not boil. Adjust the seasonings to taste and pour over the chicken.

Serving Suggestion: Serve over hot rice or egg noodles.