Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce (Poulet à la Forestière)

Chicken pieces are pan-fried, braised in white wine and finally garnished with a creamy “Forestière sauce” – a typical French sauce of mushrooms and crème fraiche. This is an easy recipe that is cozy and incredibly flavorful.

Cooking notes:

• I recommend you salt your chicken beforehand (2 to 3 hours before), to allow the salt to penetrate the meat. If you’re interested in knowing more about how salt is used to build and enhance flavor in food (especially for meats), I recommend the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat.
• Leaving the skin on the chicken is essential to this recipe. The chicken will be first cooked, skin-side down, in the pan. The fat from the skin will melt and render into the pan, and be used later to caramelize the shallots and garlic, and as a base for the sauce. It will contribute greatly to building flavors in this dish. You can choose to remove the skin later on – in your plate, once the dish is served.
• Instead of 2 chicken quarters, you can substitute for 4 skin-on chicken legs or thighs.
• Cremini mushrooms are traditionally used for making a classic “Forestière sauce”, but you can opt for other seasonal mushrooms if you want, such as porcini or chanterelles
• For the white wine, I recommend you choose one that is dry and crisp, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc.
• Although it wasn’t easy to find up until a few years ago, Crème fraiche has now become common in grocery stores in Canada and the US. You can usually find it next to sour creams. Two of my favorite brands I recommend are Liberte and Maison Riviera.

I hope you enjoy this Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce (Poulet à la Forestière) as much as I do! It is a perfect weeknight dinner or weekend lunch, served on top of pasta, white rice or green beans. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to know how it turned out!

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