Sous Vide Chicken and Mushroom Sauce

All mushrooms work well with this recipe for Chicken and Mushroom Sauce, but if you really want to make the most of this recipe use 2 or 3 different types.  Using various mushrooms will give you deeper flavor and wonderful textures.  Sous vide chicken is divine!  Not only does the sous vide lock in all the nutrients, but it also keeps the chicken tender and juicy too.  The rubber chicken dinner is a thing of the past!

Can I pick my own mushrooms?

Morel mushrooms are one of the most unique and scrumptious wild fungi.  Because they're so distinctive, you won't accidentally pick one that will have you rushing to the hospital.  So unless you're forging for morels, stick to the grocery isles for your fresh mushrooms.  Depending on where you live, morel season only lasts a few weeks a year in the months of April and May.  So grab a basket and check out these tips for finding morels. If your morel mushroom hunting adventure proves unfruitful, head over to the Firefly Grill for the best Fried Morels ever!  Or if you want to play in your own kitchen, slip over to your local grocer (or farmer's market) and see if they have any morels in the produce isle. 

How to Make a Simple Mushroom Sauce

Making a mushroom sauce is one of the easier and quickest sauces you can pull together.  

1. Clean & cut 8 ounces mushrooms
2. In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat
3. Add the mushrooms to the butter after it starts to foam, roll them around the pan to coat them in the fat 
4. 
5. After the mushrooms brown and release their liquid, put them and their juices in a bowl & set aside
6. Melt another 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet, 2 tablespoons flour and stir
7. After 2 minutes, whisk in 1 cup cold milk until it starts to simmer and thicken
8. Stir in ¼ cup dry sherry, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground pepper, and the mushrooms and their liquid back in 

Keep warm until ready to serve. What really makes this recipe is dry sherry and the ground nutmeg.  Use fresh ground nutmeg if you can! 

Variations:

Garlic is very nice in this sauce.  If you're a fan of garlic, like I am, mince up 1 or 2 cloves and add them to the skillet right after the mushrooms start to brown.  Lower the heat so you don't burn the garlic.  Another way to deepen the flavors even more, instead of 1 cup of milk, add ½ cup milk and ½ cup heavy cream.  Simply heavenly! This mushroom sauce is not only excellent over chicken but it's fabulous over pork chops and steak too. 

Why use a Sous Vide?

Sous Vide cooking is a great if you like easy cooking methods that are impossible to screw up.  Pop your thawed boneless chicken breasts into a freezer ziplock bag with a little salt and pepper at 146F for 1-4 hours and it always comes out juicy and tender.  Are your chicken breasts frozen?  No problem!  Just keep them in the sous vide for 3-8 hours.  

The sous vide cooks food slowly and evenly without ever over cooking it.  As an experiment, I've cooked a chicken breast at 146F in the sous vide for 24 hours and the texture was a little soft for my liking, but it was perfectly edible.  Try cooking it in the oven for 24 hours and you'll end up with a massive brick that might be useful as a doorstop.  Check out Sous Vide Mag. for some really great info about the sous vide.

If you're in the market for a sous vide, I recommend either the Anova Sous Vide or the Joule Sous Vide.  However, they both have their pros and cons.

What I like about the Anova Sous Vide is that it operates independently from your phone.  Unlike the Joule sous vide, you can turn it on and off by simply touching the device.  I love how easy it is to use, plus it's less expensive than the Joule model. What I don't like about it is... well, actually, there isn't anything I don't like about it. What I like about the Joule Sous Vide is its slick, sexy design, and it heats up fast.  What I don't like about it is that you have to use your phone to turn it off, on, and adjust the temperature.

What to serve with Sous Vide Chicken and Mushroom Sauce

Then try this rich and creamy recipe for morel mushrooms sauce over a delicate sous vide chicken breast.  This is comfort food on the lighter side.  Even though the sauce is completely decedent, the chicken is light, tender and juicy.  Serve it with a side of rice pilaf with fresh herbs and toasted pecans and a salad.  You can't go wrong with a Garlic and Parmesan Salad or a simple spinach salad made with a light Italian vinaigrette, red onions, and mandarin oranges.  Soooooo good!