I think of this Chicken Portobello Mélange as standard bistro fare. I’ve never been to Paris, but this dish brings back memories from when we were living in Cambridge, MA and frequented a bistro in Porter Square, over twenty years ago, long before Colette and the Porter Square Hotel came to be. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant from back then, but I do remember the delectable smells of roasting meats and veg, herbal scents wafting, and lots of fresh-baked bread. It was so good.
This Chicken Portobello Mélange will transform your kitchen into a French bistro – the air will be heavy with scents of thyme, bay, and garlic. The mushroom and wine broth will be heady. I serve it with brown rice. If you’re living right, there will be bread baking as well. There’s nothing better – so cozy.
Chicken Portobello Mélange
Equipment
- 1 12" skillet or fry pan
Ingredients
- 2 cooked chicken breasts
- 3 celery stalks
- 1 sweet onion
- 1 pound portobello mushrooms (6 large caps)
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and coarse ground pepper
- 2 T olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 T dried thyme
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 cup chicken broth or stock
- parsley and/or celery leaves for garnish
- 1 T soy sauce
Instructions
- Prep the chicken and veg – Cut the chicken breasts into large chunks, then shred them using two forks or your hands. Trim and chop the celery – about 1/2 inch slices across the ribs. Reserve the leaves, if using. Finely chop the onion. Destem the mushrooms and slice them across the equator, then cut each half into pie-shaped pieces. Mince the garlic. Chop the parsley.
- Sweat the mushrooms – Add the mushrooms to a cold skillet. Sprinkle with 1/2 t salt. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until the mushrooms have released all of their water and the water has cooked off, about 20 minutes
- Create the broth – Add the olive oil, onions, and an additional 1/4 t salt to the skillet with the mushrooms. Stir and scrape the bottom of the skillet to pull up the cooked mushroom fond. Cook until the onions are softened. Add the celery, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme, and cook for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant, then stir in the wine, chicken stock, and soy sauce. Simmer until reduced, about 15 minutes.
- Finish and serve – Stir in the shredded chicken and cook until heated through. Pull out the bay leaves and garnish with parsley and/or celery leaves and serve.
INGREDIENT NOTES: Portobello mushrooms are a must for this Chicken Portobello Mélange, and it’s imperative that you cook the mushrooms thoroughly. They have a meaty texture that pairs well with the chicken and an earthiness that really works with the thyme, the aromatics, and the wine. It’s also imperative that you NOT overcook the celery. It provides that vegetal crunch that keeps this dish fresh.
I call for cooked chicken breasts in this recipe because this is one of the recipes in my repertoire for using leftover chicken. When we roast a chicken, we both prefer the juicy dark meat, falling off the bone. So there is always breast meat leftover.
Looking forward to trying this recipe. Both my husband and I love mushrooms and this recipe sounds amazing.
Thanks!
Enjoy! Please let me know how it goes. I should have mentioned in the post that the dish tastes much better if you let it cool a bit – the flavors are muted if you eat it while it’s steaming hot.