Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy frying pan with lid, 28cm or larger
• •Sharp knife for the mushrooms

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the chicken

   Take the chicken breasts out of the fridge twenty minutes before you cook them. Cold chicken in a hot pan seizes up and cooks unevenly. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper. If the fillets are very thick, place each one between two pieces of cling film and press down firmly with the heel of your hand until they're an even 2cm thick. You're not pounding them flat. You're giving them a uniform thickness so the thinnest edge doesn't dry out while the centre catches up.

   Room temperature chicken sears better. The surface dries slightly in those twenty minutes, and dry surfaces brown. Wet surfaces steam.
2. 2

   Sear the chicken

   Heat the oil in a wide, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, lay the chicken fillets in the pan. Do not touch them. Let them cook undisturbed for four to five minutes. You're building a golden crust on the underside, and that crust is where most of the flavor in this dish begins. When the edges turn white about a third of the way up, flip them. Cook for three minutes more, then transfer to a plate. They won't be cooked through yet. That's fine. They'll finish in the sauce.

   If the chicken sticks when you try to flip it, it isn't ready. Wait another thirty seconds. When the crust has formed, it releases itself.
3. 3

   Cook the mushrooms

   Lower the heat to medium. Add the butter to the same pan. Those golden bits stuck to the bottom are fond, concentrated flavor from the chicken, and the butter is going to lift them. Add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer. Here is the thing most people get wrong: they crowd the pan and stir too often. Mushrooms are mostly water. If you pile them in and stir, they release their liquid all at once and stew instead of browning. Give them space. Let them sit for two minutes before you touch them. When the edges turn golden and the surface looks dry rather than slick, stir once and let them go again. This takes about six minutes total. You'll know they're done when they've shrunk by half and the pan is almost dry.

   Brown mushrooms have more flavor than white button mushrooms. If you can find fresh chanterelles in September, use a handful alongside the brown ones. That's the season deciding for you.
4. 4

   Build the sauce base

   Push the mushrooms to the edges of the pan. Add the diced shallot to the centre and cook for two minutes, stirring, until it softens and turns translucent. Add the sliced garlic and the thyme leaves and cook for thirty seconds more, just until the garlic smells sweet, not sharp. Pour in the sherry or wine. It will hiss and reduce almost immediately. That's the alcohol burning off and the liquid dissolving the last of the fond from the bottom of the pan. Everything good in the sauce starts here.

5. 5

   Finish the sauce

   Pour in the chicken stock and let it bubble for a minute until it reduces by about half. Then add the cream and the Dijon mustard. Stir them through and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer. The mustard isn't here for heat. It's here for depth, a rounded warmth underneath the cream that you can't quite identify but would miss if it weren't there. Let the sauce simmer for two to three minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste it. Adjust the salt. The sauce should be rich and savoury, not flat.

6. 6

   Return the chicken

   Nestle the seared chicken fillets back into the sauce, along with any juices that have collected on the plate. Those juices are flavor you don't want to waste. Spoon sauce over the top of each fillet. Cover the pan loosely and let everything simmer gently for five to six minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Cut into the thickest part of one fillet. The flesh should be white all the way through with clear juices, no pink. If there's pink, give it two more minutes. Overcooked chicken is dry. Undercooked chicken is unsafe. The window between the two is where you're aiming, and checking is not a failure. It's care.

7. 7

   Serve

   Spoon the mushroom sauce generously over and around each fillet. Scatter snipped chives across the top. Serve with boiled potatoes or rice, something plain that lets the sauce be the reason you come back to the plate. This is a dish that tastes like someone made it with love, and the table is where it happens. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Use brown mushrooms, not white button. Brown mushrooms have deeper flavor and hold their shape when cooked. Slice them 5mm thick so they brown properly without disappearing into the sauce.
• •A teaspoon of Dijon mustard stirred into the cream does something quiet and important. It rounds out the sauce and gives it a warmth underneath that you can't quite name. Don't skip it, and don't add more. One teaspoon is the right amount.
• •If you have good chicken stock, made from bones and time, the sauce will be noticeably better. If you're using shop-bought, taste it first. Thin, salty stock makes a thin, salty sauce. Reduce it by half before adding it if you're unsure.
• •A splash of dry sherry lifts the whole dish. White wine works too. What matters is that the alcohol cooks off completely, leaving only the sharpness behind. If you don't cook with alcohol, a squeeze of lemon juice at the end does a similar job.

Advance Preparation

• •The mushroom sauce can be made a few hours ahead and reheated gently. Sear the chicken just before serving and finish it in the warmed sauce. The texture of the chicken is best when it hasn't been sitting.
• •Leftover sauce keeps for two days in the fridge. Reheat slowly over low heat, adding a splash of stock if it has thickened too much. It also works beautifully over pasta the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)