Oyster mushrooms (pleurotis ostreatus), called setas in central Mexico, are now widely grown commercially, and therefore easy to find at any large market. This may be made one day ahead and refrigerated, adding the crema after the sauce and chicken are heated through.
Ingredients:
- 6 boneless chicken breast halves, with skin
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and sliced into thin crescents
- 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 pound oyster mushrooms, sliced
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 3 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, lightly toasted and thinly sliced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup Mexican crema or crème fraiche
Preparation:
In a large skillet, sauté the chicken, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, in the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a platter and keep covered.
Add the remaining butter to the skillet and sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms until the onion is soft and the mushrooms golden. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add wine and cook until reduced by half.
Add the chiles and chicken stock and cook over low heat another 5 minutes. Place half the contents of the skillet in a blender and puree until smooth.
Return puree to skillet, add the chicken pieces and continue cooking over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through. This may be done in a saucepan if the skillet does not accommodate all the chicken pieces and sauce.
When the chicken is cooked through, remove it and stir the crema into the sauce until thoroughly blended. Do not allow the sauce to boil.
Spoon some sauce onto each plate, top with a piece of chicken and pass extra sauce.
Serves 6.
