Chicken with Pancetta, Mushrooms and White Wine Sauce

    The rule in the house is that Sunday evenings are saved for a nice family dinner.  Surprisingly, we do eat many dinners together but I definitely want to start our week with togetherness and something a bit more fancy.  Many times, the three of us will gather in the kitchen and cook together.  I saw this recipe on the D'Artagnan website last week.  I have a very hard time going to this website without buying something and this time was no different. - 1 pound of Organic Chef's Mix Mushrooms and three packages of Medallions of Duck Foie Gras with Black Truffles (you can never have enough foie).  This recipe reminded me of one of my favorite Alsatian chicken dishes, Coq au Riesling, but it seemed just a bit less time-consuming.  The recipe calls for ventreche, which is basically a French version of pancetta.  I happened to have some on hand as we had Cassoulet several weeks ago.  This is easy, comfort food.

Chicken with Pancetta, Mushrooms & White Wine Sauce
Adapted from: D'Artagnan
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 - bone-In, skin-on Chicken Thighs
2 oz ventreche (or pancetta), chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/3 pound mushrooms, chopped (don't use button mushrooms, ramp it up a bit)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Riesling)
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
Parsley to garnish
Salt and pepper

1.  Melt butter in a skillet, over medium-high heat.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place skin side down in the pan.  Cook, without moving, for 6 minutes.  Flip and cook an additional minute.  Remove chicken and set aside.

2.  In the same pan, over medium heat, add the ventreche/pancetta and cook until rendered and crisp.  Remove and set aside.

3.  In the same pan, over medium-high heat, add shallots and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook an additional minute.  Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and add thyme.  Cook until mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine and scrape any browned bits from the pan.  Cook an additional 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock and bring mixture to a simmer.  Add cooked ventreche and the chicken thighs, skin side up, to the pan.  Simmer on medium-low heat for about 15-25 minutes or until thighs are fully cooked and sauce has reduced.

4.  Stir in cream and season to taste.  Simmer until sauce has thickened.

5.  Place an amount of the mushroom mixture on a plate.  Top with one chicken thigh and garnish with parsley.

Enjoy