Chicken Friand

Ok, so I LOVE La Madeline, definitely one of my top 5 restaurants, and whenever I'm able to venture to one (COME TO DENTON, PLEASE!) I always order the Chicken Friand, a beautiful puff pastry stuffed with chicken and mushrooms and the most delicious sauce. And since we don't have one in Denton, I decided to try making it at home basing my recipe simply off remembrance and I think I have come pretty close to the real thing after making this a couple times! So here goes!

Chicken Friand
makes 2 puff pastries, plus extra sauce

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups of sliced mushrooms, i used Baby Bellas
1 & 1/4 cup of white wine
1 onion, finely chopped, divided
1 or 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of chopped garlic, depending on your preference (more is always better for me!)
1/2 tablespoon of fresh thyme
3 or 4 tablespoons of flour
1/3 cup of chicken broth
about 2 cups of chicken, cooked and diced*
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of milk
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon of water


*I cook my chicken on the stove in some olive oil and lots of thyme to give it extra flavor





First, before anything else, get your puff pastry out of the freezer and let that baby thaw! It takes at least 40 minutes, sometimes more and the longer it thaws, the easier it is to roll out!

Heat over to 350 degrees.

Now for the fun! In a large sauce pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of butter and oil on medium heat, and add mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until the mushrooms' liquid gives off and evaporates, about 4 minutes. Next add 1/4 cup of wine and continue until the wine evaporates. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.

Now, in the saucepan, melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter and add onions, garlic and thyme and cook until onions are soft. Next, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a whisk until a thick mixture is formed. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and the remaining wine and heat.
Add cooked chicken and mushrooms and heat through.
Add milk and cream, slowly again, until sauce is nice and thick. (if you like a thinner sauce, add more milk)


Turn heat on low and move onto your pastry.
I like to roll out parchment paper and throw some flour on it for a quick clean-up later when rolling out anything. On a floured surface, roll out pastry sheet about 4 inches wider and 2 inches longer and make sure you roll the seams of the dough together so they don't break. Now, cut the pastry diagonally and transfer each triangle to a baking sheet. (Again, I line my baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up)
Spoon mixture onto one side of each triangle then fold the other side over and press together (this will be messy, but do the best you can!) Now, whisk the egg and water in a small bowl and using a pastry brush, brush egg wash onto the tops of the pastries.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until pastry has puffed up and turned golden brown
Place each pastry on a plate, then add more sauce on top and you're done!!



I served this with sauteed aspargus and a spinach salad, light greens go perfect with this savory dish!

Happy Baking!