Chicken Marengo

Mille® 's Note:

There's a story that says that this dish was served to Napoleon on the day he defeated the Austrians on the battlefield near the village of Marengo in northwest Italy, mid-June 1800. The original recipe contained chicken cooked in oil, tomatoes, a little water, and garlic. The chicken was served with local steamed crayfish and fried eggs as garnish. Back in France, the dish became popular with the addition of mushrooms, thyme, and white wine. If you'd like, you can add uncooked crayfish or shelled uncooked shrimp in the last 10 minutes with the mushrooms. You can also substitute chicken breasts or chicken parts, skinned or unskinned.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 (3 lb) ready-to-cook chicken , cut up
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 clove garlic , chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (, or 1 tbsp. dried)
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ lb mushroom
• croutons, fried or baked in butter or oil

Directions:

1. Rub chicken pieces with 1½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper; dredge in flour.
2. Brown in oil on one side, and then add onion and turn pieces to brown on the other side.
3. When well browned, pour in wine and boil until wine reduces to about half.
4. Stir in puree, garlic, and parsley, and then cover and cook slowly for 20 minutes.
5. Add thyme and mushrooms; cook 10 minutes longer.
6. Adjust seasoning.
7. Transfer chicken to platter surrounded with croutons; pour pan gravy over the chicken.

Reviews

[Lorac]

Excellent! Wonderful flavor and very easy. I made the recipe using 2 pounds of bone in chicken breasts and fresh herbs. I did not use the recommended amount of salt and pepper, just sprinkled some on and added more at the end of cooking time. I cut the oil back to 2 tbls and added 2 tbls of chicken broth. After 10 minutes I turned the chicken and the sauce was so thick I was worried it would stick to the pan and burn. I added 1/2 cup of chicken broth and another 3 tbls of puree. I turned the chicken again when adding the mushrooms.I served the chicken with mashed potatoes to soak up the delicious sauce. Thanks Miller®™ for this lovely version of a classic dish.