Crème Fraîche Chicken

by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, featured in Simple Pleasures

Published by Plum

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Introduction

In winter, I make versions of this creamy chicken often — it’s a total crowd-pleaser and rather quick to make. I love the slight tang from the crème fraîche and the freshness from the lemon and parsley, which help make this dish not too heavy and a weeknight winner. I like to finish the chicken in the oven so it remains crispy; however, it can also finish cooking on the stove top. Simply return the chicken to the sauce and cook for 15–20 minutes or until cooked through.

As featured in

Simple Pleasures

Image of Julia Busuttil Nishimura's Creme Fraiche Chicken — Photo by Armelle Habib

Ingredients

Serves: 4

1 kilogram chicken thighs with skin on and bone in
sea salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
150 millilitres dry white vermouth or dry white wine
150 grams creme fraiche
3 strips of lemon peel
black pepper
small handful of parsley leaves (roughly chopped)

Method

Crème Fraîche Chicken is a guest recipe by Julia Busuttil Nishimura so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional).
Season the chicken thighs with salt and set aside.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large ovenproof sauté pan over a medium–high heat. Brown the chicken, skin-side down, until golden, around 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and setaside.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic to the pan, stirring to coat it in the oil and butter. Cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then deglaze with the vermouth or wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to lift any brown bits. Add the crème fraîche and lemon peel and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up.
Transfer the pan to the oven and finish cooking for 20–25minutes or until the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened a little. Stir through the parsley and serve.