Chicken in Champagne Cream Sauce

Which to many “sociologists” is a result of the wave of optimism swirling among the French these days. Yes, believe it or not, the French (world-famous for their grumpiness) are in a good mood right now.

After a few morose years, France is wrapping up a somewhat positive year, with a brand new shiny president, a reformist government and a re-emerging economy – many things to be positive about. And with a good mood comes champagne… and more champagne! (so they say). So it just felt a perfect fit for me today to introduce this delightful Chicken in Champagne Cream Sauce recipe.

A perfect way to enjoy a little champagne in your life, in a different way (or simply to make use of opened champagne bottles in your fridge, that you don’t necessary feel like drinking.) Once a rustic recipe from the Champagne region of France, the fame of this dish found birth in New York City in the late 1990s. The Chicken in Champagne Cream Sauce was served at the La Caravelle, a classic French dining room living on 55th Street, under the name “Poularde Maison Blanche” (literally meaning “homemade white chicken”) and was a favorite of the Kennedys, who were regulars at La Caravelle.

Surely chic in name and in fame, this Chicken in Champagne Cream Sauce is actually quite simple to make, and has a very homely feel to it. The champagne lends a very delicate flavour, but the simplicity of the chicken along with the cream and the mushrooms makes it a comforting dish for the whole family, during any occasion. I also love how this recipe requires a whole chicken, and uses the carcass to make a bone chicken broth, which is then used to build the sauce of the dish.

Cooking notes:

• Champagne is a legally-protected name given solely to sparkling wine made from the grapes grown in the Champagne wine region in Northeastern France. Sparkling wines that don’t feature Champagne grapes cannot legally be called Champagne. While this recipe calls for real Champagne, it works perfectly with any kind of sparkling white wine (I actually used Codorniu Sparkling wine, because this is what I had on hand and it was delicious.)
• I have used white mushrooms (which is what the original recipe calls for), but you could also use morel mushrooms.
• You can choose to remove the skin from the chicken if you wish (for a healthier version of the dish). Although the skin contributes greatly to building the flavour in this dish.
• I used about a quarter of the chicken broth (3 1/2 cups) for the sauce of the dish, and then kept the rest of the broth to make a light soup for dinner. Chicken broth also freezes well (in a Tupperware, for up to 6 months).
• The original recipes calls for crème fraîche; but you can also use sour cream. Note that crème fraîche can’t always be replaced by sour cream in recipes; but in this recipe the substitution is working well.
• If you are running out of time or want to keep it even simpler, buy chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken (the equivalent of 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 2 breasts) and pre-made chicken broth (in this case, you can skip step 1).
• This dish is traditionally served with white rice.

If you try this Champagne in Cream Sauce recipe, let me know! Leave a comment or share a photo on Instagram tagging @pardonyourfrench or using #pardonyourfrench.

I’d love to see what you come up with. Bon Appétit!