Chicken ragout with morels in a light vermouth sauce

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 200 g chicken breast fillet(s)
• 10 g morels (morels), dried,
• 3 tbsp vermouth (Martini extra dry or Noilly Prat)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp agave syrup or maple syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• ½ tsp pepper mix (Melange blanc) or white pepper
• 1 pinch of nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 pinch of coriander powder
• 1 pinch orange peel, dried, ground
• 4 spring onions
• 1 tsp flour butter
• salt and pepper
• oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 5 hours; Total time approx. 5 hours 30 minutes

without cream

Start early: prepare the mushrooms and meat a few hours before dinner. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly and soak them in lukewarm water. Marinate the meat in a mixture of vermouth, soy sauce, agave syrup, and lime juice, seasoned with Melange Blanc and, if available, nutmeg, coriander, and orange zest. Cut the onions diagonally into not-too-thin slices. Drain the mushrooms, filtering and reserving the soaking water. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly again (they may still have sand on them). Leave a few very good specimens whole and add them to the meat, coarsely chop the remaining mushrooms. Heat the oil and gently fry the onions, add the coarsely chopped mushrooms, and cook briefly. Then pour in the mushroom liquid and let it reduce slightly. Add the meat, marinade, and whole mushrooms, bring to a boil, and then simmer over low heat until tender. Stir in the flour and butter and let the sauce simmer gently for a few more minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. When serving, arrange the whole mushrooms decoratively on top of the ragout. This dish would be delicious with fine tagliatelle and broccoli or snow peas. Note: I deliberately use flour butter instead of cream or crème fraîche in this dish so as not to overpower the delicate flavor of the morels and vermouth. The amount of flour butter is so small that it doesn’t make the sauce too rich, nor does it overly taste the flour.