French chicken recipe with potatoes and tomatoes

From the name of the dish it’s clear that France should be his homeland. However, it has nothing to do with French cuisine. You can search for its origins in Alsatian and Lorraine cuisines for a long time, but there will be no exact matches. The French do not cook meat at the same time as cheese and do not use mayonnaise for baking potatoes.

The origins of the name of the dish

In the culinary traditions of the most gastronomic country in the world, potatoes are baked with bechamel sauce. It is not similar in composition to mayonnaise, but is a golden-fried flour, diluted with milk or cream and seasoned with nutmeg. A dish baked with this sauce and sprinkled with cheese is called gratin. For French cuisine, it is classic and is prepared not only with potatoes, but also with mushrooms and vegetables. And in the preparation of meat, wine and vegetables are used in large quantities.

In Russia, meat in French with chicken began to be cooked in the 18th century. It is believed that the name of the dish was provided by his chef, a Frenchman who headed the "culinary workshop" of His Grace Prince Grigory Orlov. The chef used in the recipe the basics of French cuisine - baking potatoes under a cheese crust, but made it rich in Russian, for which meat was added. Initially only veal was used, but with the spread of the dish across Russia, variations of it with pork and chicken appeared.

Subtleties of cooking legs

Cooking French-style chicken in the oven requires the use of fresh meat. The bird must be chilled or steamed. Frozen or partially thawed pieces can not be taken, otherwise the meat will turn out to be tough. Otherwise, there are no essential requirements for it. You can choose for the dish and the breast, and thighs, and legs, and a carcass, cut into portions. In the first case, the recipe will turn out less caloric, when using fatty thighs, calorie content will be higher.

Here are some more French chicken secrets.

• Lay the ingredients in layers: down the meat, then onions, potatoes and cheese. Mayonnaise cover the dish on top, applying it with a thick layer or mesh.
• The meat will be juicy if you spread the pieces tightly to each other. Do not bake the dish on a large baking sheet if the meat is small, as it will dry out.
• During baking, onions give juice, which helps the meat to bake. The more onions, the juicier the chicken will turn out. Keep this in mind if you cook French fried chicken breast potatoes.
• To give the dish a spicy, pronounced flavor, marinate the onions. Cut it into rings, pour cold water mixed with salt, sugar, vinegar. Hold for 30 minutes, squeeze and lay on the meat.
• Potatoes must be well salted and seasoned with spices, otherwise it will get a fresh taste. For spices, use marjoram, nutmeg, paprika, oregano. Each of them goes well with meat, and with potatoes, and cheese.
• Cheese must be grated and evenly distributed in shape with the last layer. Take it with your hands so that the crust is tight. You can replace the classic hard cheese with cheese - then the calorie content will be less, and the crust will be thinner.

Classic and original recipes

The French chicken recipe in the oven is easy to change by adding new ingredients to it. And every time the taste of the dish turns out worthy. A large number of “on the theme” variations are associated with this, for example, a dish with tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini.

With potatoes and onions

In the classic version, there is no tomato or mushrooms. But onions are used a lot, and chicken breast is used as meat.

You will need:

• chicken fillet - 1 kg;
• onions - 3 large heads;
• potatoes - 1 kg;
• mayonnaise - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• cheese - 150 g;
• salt and pepper.

Cooking

1. Cut the breast into slices with a thickness of 0.5 cm. Lightly beat them (it is convenient to do this in cling film). Sprinkle with pepper and salt.
2. Cut the onion into rings, pickle. Place on filet.
3. Peel and finely chop the potatoes, sprinkle with vegetable oil, add salt and spices, mix. Lap over the onion to make a fish scale.
4. Grate cheese, sprinkle on top, rinse with your hands.
5. Make a mayonnaise net on the surface or evenly distribute it over the cheese.
6. Bake at 180 ° 40 minutes under the lid. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes.

With tomatoes

French-baked chicken with tomatoes is less calorie, since potatoes are not used in it. Therefore, instead of breasts, you can take fatter thighs: they are more satisfying, they are conveniently laid out portionwise on plates.

You will need:

• chicken thighs - 1 kg;
• onion - 1 head;
• tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
• cheese - 200 g;
• mayonnaise - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• salt pepper.

Cooking

1. Cover the pan with parchment. Salt, pepper the thighs, lay on it.
2. Chop the onions in half rings, distribute them into pieces of meat.
3. Scale the tomatoes with boiling water and remove the peel. Cut into circles, lay out the third layer.
4. Pour mayonnaise.
5. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Bake 40 minutes at 180 °.

Readiness should be punctured thigh. If light juice flows from it, you can remove the pan from the oven.

Try to cook chicken in a French oven with potatoes or a recipe with tomatoes and mushrooms. The rich taste of meat and its spectacular golden crust will appeal to even children. Such a dish can easily be prepared even by a teenager without experience. Enjoy your meal!

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