Maille's Gluten Free Sherry & Mustard Braised Chicken with Confit Potato Recipe

Sweet sherry and sherry vinegar meet succulent chicken thighs and shallots in this succulent dish!

Serves 2 to 4

Sherry & Mustard Braised Chicken with Confit Potato 

Sherry loves chicken. The sweet, unmistakable taste of it pairs really well. Especially with chicken thighs. This dish has many inspirations: the idea to braise the chicken in sherry was inspired by a dish created by Heston Blumenthal on Masterchef Australia last season. The confit potato is an adapted version of the one Michel Roux Jr made on an early season of the UK Masterchef: The Professionals.

A few days after seeing both shows, I received a lovely parcel full of goodies from Maille with the opportunity to create a recipe using the selection of mustards and vinegar in the box. The first jar of mustard I saw contained white wine, shallots and hazelnuts. I was intrigued by the combination and remembering the use of shallots in Heston's dish, I got hopeful that I could recreate a version of his dish. Rummaging in the box from Maille, I came across a bottle of the most delicious sherry vinegar and my fate was sealed and this sherry and mustard recipe for braised chicken was born.

This dish is so good. It's tangy from the use of two vinegars, sweet from the use of actual sherry and verjus and it has depth from the mustard. It's so good that we had it three times in the space of a month. It's so good that I've just about run out of the shallot and hazelnut mustard and I'm on the last dregs of the sherry vinegar. This braised chicken dish would be perfect for a special occasion served with the confit potato or dress it down by preparing it with bone-in chicken and replacing the confit potato with roasted wedges. Add some greens and take your time reducing the sauce and you'll be blown away.
Using a sauce in your cooking can really catapult your dish. Check out this board for sauce recipes:

---

Ingredients:

For the sherry & mustard braised chicken
1/4 cup sherry
1/3 cup verjus
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup Maille Sherry Vinegar with Sundried Tomatoes
1/2 sup shallots, quartered
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Maille Mustard with White Wine, Brittany Shallots and Hazelnut
2 cups chicken stock
3 smoked garlic cloves, crushed
6 pieces of chicken, preferably thighs and legs
grapeseed oil
gluten free plain/all-purpose flour
salt
pepper

For the confit potato
4 potatoes
butter
salt

---

Instructions:

Sherry & Mustard Braised Chicken with Confit Potato
 
For sherry & mustard braised chicken

1. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour while about a tablespoon or so of grapeseed oil heats in a large pan.
2. Sear the chicken in the oil in batches (if necessary) until it is golden brown on both sides. Be sure to sear skin-side down first, then set aside.
3. Add quartered shallots to pan and saute about 3 minutes until caramelized. Add garlic and continue to saute until aromatic. Take care not to burn the garlic.
4. De-glaze the pan with the red wine vinegar and the verjus. Stir to combine then allow to reduce by about half.
5. Stir in the sherry and the sherry vinegar and reduce by half again.
6. Add the stock, whisk in the mustard and add the chicken back to the pan, skin side up. Cover with a lid or a bit of foil. Reduce the heat to low and braise until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
7. Remove the chicken and use a stick blender or pour the content of the pan into a blender and blitz to form a thick sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
8. Add the sauce back into the pan along with the chicken. Bubble away for a further five minutes to concentrate the sauce and intensify the flavors.

For the confit potato

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F.
2. Peel the potatoes and shape them into barrels.
3. Place on a hot grill pan and allow to sear. Rotate slightly after about 2 minutes to get the grill markings.
4. Flip the potatoes on the other end and repeat.
5. Once the potatoes have been marked on both sides, scoop a generous blob of butter into the grill pan. Allow to bubble beneath the potatoes.
6. Transfer the potatoes to an oven proof dish and cover with the butter from the grill pan. Add more butter if necessary until the butter comes about halfway up the potatoes. 
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, flip the potatoes onto the other end, baste and continue to bake another 10 minutes or so until fork tender. Season well.

Loved this? Be sure to check out: 

Apple & Blueberry Mini Tarte Tatin 

White Spaghetti with Prosciutto Recipe 

Crock Pot Lamb Shanks with Homemade Pappardelle