Jay’s Nights Out At Home – Chicken in a Mustard Sauce

This is the third and final extract from Jay Rayner's excellent Nights Out At Home. The recipe is inspired by a Henry Harris recipe for rabbit in a mustard sauce. Harris made this famous in a restaurant called Racine. He is now back behind the stoves in a reasonably new venture called Bouchon Racine, above a pub in east London. Trying to get a table there is not easy.

I ate Harris's food once, way back before I'd heard of him. Having been dragged to Knightsbridge on a shopping trip and being in need of some sustenance, I discovered that Harvey Nichols had a restaurant. Up we wandered, in search of a quick one course. Blown away by the menu we ate our way through the carte and enjoyed what was certainly the meal of the year. Chef - H Harris. And like Jeremy Lee last week, another alumnus of the school of Simon Hopkinson.

Jay points out that rabbit is not easy to cook, hence his choice of chicken. He also explains that the compounds which give mustard its heat are deactivated by cooking, so what you get is flavour rather than fire. I raised my eyebrows slightly at a recipe which states on the one hand that the chicken thighs are going to be cooked hot and fast, then stipulates 45 minutes in the oven. But I haven't cooked this, so let's trust the man. He did win Masterchef after all.

The article was published before I had cooked the dish. I reproduce Jay's recipe in full in italics below. Having now made it, I've added my comments in blue at the foot. If you're thinking of trying it, I'd recommend checking these comments before you start.

Ingredients

1 large onion, sliced into rings; 6–8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs; 200g smoked bacon lardons; 2 tbsp olive oil; sea salt and ground black pepper; a couple of knobs of butter; half a dozen fat cloves of garlic (optional);  400ml chicken stock from cube; 100ml double cream; Dijon mustard.

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Heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. You’re going to roast these chicken thighs hot and fast.

Put the sliced onion across the bottom of an oven pan. Place the chicken thighs on top, skin side up. Chuck the lardons over and around them. Dribble on a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, season liberally with salt and pepper and add 2 good knobs of butter. Throw in the cloves of garlic. They aren’t important to the recipe. I just can’t resist the opportunity to roast garlic with chicken thighs. They go soft and mellow and squidgy and can be eaten whole.

Roast the chicken thighs in the oven for around 45 minutes, and certainly until the skin is crisp. Baste them every 15 minutes or so. About halfway through the cooking give them 10 minutes skin side down so the backs also crisp up. Then turn back skin side up for another 10 minutes so the skin is really crisp.

While the chicken is roasting, warm a serving dish which is big enough and has high enough sides to restrain (sic) the sauce.

When the thighs are done, take them out of the pan, shaking off any caramelized rings of onion or lardons. Put the chicken in the serving dish to rest. It will not get cold and will benefit hugely from the 15 minutes or so rest it will take to make the sauce.

The pan will have lots of fabulous juices in it. Put it on a medium heat, and pour in the stock from cube, scraping up everything from the bottom of the pan. Let it bubble away and reduce a little for 5 minutes.

Pour in the double cream and whisk to incorporate into the stock. Let it simmer and thicken further (but don’t let it boil).

Whisk in a good tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Taste. (Always taste.) If you think it can take more, add a teaspoon at a time. Dijon mustard is a very good emulsifier and it will bring the whole thing together.

Once it has thickened enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon, pour everything in the tray over the chicken thighs.

Serve with rice, or crusty bread and a sharp green salad. Pretend you’re a rustic French farmer.

Tom's Post Script

I cooked this on the day of publication, and followed Jay's recipe to the letter. Very nice indeed, but I would make a few comments.

1. It certainly does need that cooking time; however, mine was turning just the faintest shade of brown at the end. I didn't want to cook it for any longer. I would recommend browning first.
2. Unless you like a very watery gravy, 500 ml would be far too much liquid if you just followed the instruction to "reduce a little". I reduced it a lot. The problem with that, using a stock cube, is that you exacerbate the saltiness. I think 250ml of stock would suffice.
3. For me, there was a little too much bacon, especially when using the smoky stuff. Next time I'll use 125g.
4. Jay is absolutely right in his advice not to be frightened of the mustard. I put in a tablespoon, then another teaspoon. It could have done with more.
5. I'll certainly make this again.

Thanks again to Jay Rayner and to Annie Lucas of Penguin Books for permission to reproduce these recipes. At a mere £22 this is an ideal Christmas present for anyone who loves food. And also for yourself.