Chicken and beer casserole (Poulet à la bière)

This popular winter dish can be prepared for a large number of people. I prefer to use free-range chicken drumsticks or thighs on the bone.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 20 g butter
• ½ brown onion, finely chopped
• ½ tsp curry powder
• 300 ml beer
• 300 g very small Swiss Brown mushrooms
• 1 leek, cut into julienne 
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp thin cream
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly coat with flour.

Heat the oil and butter in a wide non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides. Add the onion and curry powder and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the beer, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 25 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and leek and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until softened. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a dish and cover to keep warm.

Simmer the remaining cooking liquid until reduced to ⅔ cup. Stir in the mustard and cream, bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Stir in the parsley and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Spoon a bed of leek and mushroom onto 4 plates. Top with 2 chicken pieces, spoon the sauce over and serve.

Note

• You can use almost any type of beer for this fabulous dish but a dark beer in the style of some Belgian beers is often preferred.

Taste le Tour with Gabriel Gaté starts Saturday 7 July 2018 on SBS and then on SBS On Demand and finishes 29 July 2018. Visit the Taste le Tour website to catch-up on episodes, cook up his recipes or find out more about the series.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.