Chicken Breast with Mushrooms and Cream - Stroganoff with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 4
   Heat the oil in a wide pot over high heat.

   StoveWide, shallow pot

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
2. 5
   Add the chicken breast strips and fry 3–4 minutes per side, until browned. Transfer to a plate.

   Stove

   💡Fry the strips briefly, over high heat and in a single layer: they brown outside and stay tender, and finish cooking in the sauce.

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 6
   Heat the butter in the wide pot over medium heat.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
4. 7
   Add the onion and fry 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove
5. 8
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
6. 9
   Add the mushrooms and fry 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates.

   Stove
7. 10
   Add the paprika and smoked paprika and stir.
8. 11
   Return the chicken to the pot, add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the cream. Turn down the heat and simmer 8 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

   StoveWide, shallow pot

   💡The cream thickens at a gentle simmer: a hard, long boil can split it, and the meat toughens.
9. 12
   Season with salt and black pepper, scatter the parsley on top and serve with pasta.