Seared Chicken Thighs with Hedgehog Mushroom Sauce
This recipe not only deliciously combines chicken thighs with a rich creamy mushroom sauce, but it also shows you how to make the most beautiful, crispy-delicious chicken thighs for any purpose!
I use wild hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum repandum) here, which are a great mushroom for the newbie forager, as they have spines rather than gills or pores, making them easily identifiable. Of course, you must always use extreme caution foraging for mushrooms and only eat them if you are 100% sure!
If you don’t have access to hedgehogs (a late summer, early fall mushroom), feel free to use chanterelles, or domestic cremini mushrooms.
Larger, older specimens of hedgehog mushrooms are sometimes bitter. You can decrease the bitterness by scraping off the hedgehog spines before cooking.
- Prep Time15 min
- Cook Time45 min
- Total Time1 hr
- Yield4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 1 tablespoon oil or lard
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1/2 lb hedgehog mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup sherry or white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken or mushroom stock
- 1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- Fresh herbs for garnish
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Add the oil or lard to a stainless steel or cast iron pan over medium heat.
Season the chicken thighs generously with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence on both sides.
Add the chicken to the pan skin-side-down and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the skin is brown and crispy.
Flip the thighs and put the skillet into the oven until the interior reads at least 165°F on a meat thermometer, about 10-15 minutes.
Remove thighs to a plate to rest. Transfer all but 3 tablespoons of the fat and juices from the skillet (save for another purpose).
Put the skillet over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms cook until juices from the chicken evaporate and the mushrooms brown, about 5-8 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute. Add the sherry or wine and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan.
Cook until the alcohol mostly evaporates.
Add the stock, cream, 1 teaspoon of herbes de Provence, and the Dijon.
Bring to a strong simmer, whisking, and cook until the liquid reduces to a silky sauce.
Take off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
If you’d like it even richer, you can also stir in a tablespoon of butter at this point.
Spoon the sauce onto plates and set the chicken on top, preserving its crispy skin. Garnish with herbs. Enjoy!
Notice how I didn’t have you scroll through pages of mundane nonsense to get to the recipe? Notice that there were no annoying pop-ups or ads? That was on purpose!
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