As a teenager, I spent a good portion of my part-time barista income eating out with friends. While most of my food budget was spent on burritos and cheese fries, I often craved the Americanized French food at the fast casual restaurant, La Madeleine. Although I have not been back to my hometown of Dallas, TX since I was 18, I do still occasionally get the craving for their Chicken Friand. This recipe for Mushroom Chicken Pie A La Madeleine is inspired by that dish, a puff pastry pocket filled with chicken and mushrooms and smothered in a mushroom cream sauce.
Craving the combination of flaky puff pastry and creamy mushroom chicken, I decided to re-imagine this indulgent dish of my childhood. I created a much simpler to execute Mushroom Chicken “Pie” or puff pastry casserole.
Pair the Mushroom Chicken Pie with something green!
Utilizing heavy cream and buttery puff pastry, this dish is very rich. But that’s okay, because you need a cheat night every once in a while. This dish is easier to prepare on the weekends, because it can take some time to put together. Such a rich meal is perfect for a date night or special occasion.
I did want to include some sort of green vegetable so we didn’t feel too bad eating this, and asparagus paired perfectly with the decadent mushroom sauce. An added bonus – asparagus was on sale for $1.99 per bunch.
How to Store:
This dish should keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator stored in an airtight container. Due to the cream sauce, I do not recommend freezing this.
How to Reheat for that Crispy Crust:
For optimal results, preheat the toaster oven or oven to 350°. Cook individual portions in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Check to ensure that the crust does not burn. Reheating in the microwave is fine, but the crust will be soggy.
One benefit of using chicken thighs in this recipe is that it’s much cheaper than other cuts. Since this dish cooks in the oven for so long, chicken breasts would most likely dry out, while the thighs stay nice and juicy.
Mushroom Chicken Pie A La Madeleine Recipe Step-by-Step
- Preheat oven to 400°. Defrost the puff pastry according to the package instructions.
Make the Chicken Mushroom Mixture:
- Slice 8 oz mushrooms. Dice 1 onion. Mince 4 garlic cloves. Set aside.
- Chop chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes.
- Heat large saute pan over high heat. Add 1 tbsp. avocado oil (or other cooking oil).
- Saute chicken pieces until browned. Remove the chicken and set aside.
- Place 3 tbsp. butter and diced onion in the pan, saute for 1 minute.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and saute for another 4 minutes.
- Throw the minced garlic in the pan and saute for 1 minute more. I do recommend adding the garlic last after cooking the other vegetables, otherwise the garlic is likely to burn.
- Finally, mix in the spices below, and cook for about 30 seconds:
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
2 tsp. Herbes de Provence
Look for spices that you can buy in bulk, allowing you to purchase the exact amount necessary at a fraction of the price. You can also find Herbes de Provence and other spices at Trader Joe’s, where they are significantly cheaper than at the regular grocery store.
Make the Sauce:
- Deglaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup wine. Reduce heat to low, simmer, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle 2 tbsp. flour into pan, and cook until thick and the flour is just starting to brown. Slowly whisk in 1 cup chicken broth.
- Add the chicken thighs back into pan. Whisk in 3/4 cup heavy cream. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Pour the chicken, mushroom, and cream mixture into 8 x 8 casserole dish.
This dish calls for heavy cream which can sometimes be a bit more costly. One trick is to see how much your local coffee shop will charge for a cup of milk, sub heavy cream. This could potentially get you 16 oz of cream for around $3.50, which can be cheaper than the grocery store, if it is not on sale.
Prepare Puff Pastry Crust:
- Unfold, and lightly roll out the puff pastry dough to eliminate any cracks and reduce the creases from the folds.
- Whisk 1 egg. Brush the egg wash all over the puff pastry to get a nice even golden color.
- Bake the dish in the oven for 15 minutes at 400°. Lower the temperature to 375° and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Pull the casserole dish out of oven to rest.
Prepare Asparagus:
- Preheat oven back to 400° for asparagus.
- To get rid of the tough woody ends on the asparagus, hold the asparagus firmly with both hands and bend it. Allow the vegetable to snap where it naturally wants to, this will ensure that you remove all of the tough parts on every piece.
- Toss the asparagus with 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.
- Roast the asparagus in the oven for 10 minutes while the pie rest. Serve immediately with the pie when done.
Ingredient Substitute:
Trade out the asparagus for a salad with a simple vinaigrette, or roast some broccoli. Substitute the vegetable out for whatever is in season. I made this dish in the spring, when asparagus is abundant and prices reflect that.
Divide the Mushroom Chicken Pie A La Madeleine and roasted asparagus into 4 servings and dig in!
Mushroom Chicken Pie A La Madeleine
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. Chicken Thighs cubed into 1 inch pieces
- 8 oz Brown Mushrooms sliced
- 1 Onion diced
- 4 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
- 3 tbsp. Butter
- 2 tbsp. Flour
- 1/2 cup White Wine
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 piece Frozen Puff Pastry thawed per instructions on box
- 2 tsp. Kosher or Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
- 2 tsp. Herbes de Provence
- 1 Egg
- 1 lb. Asparagus ends trimmed, see above.
- 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Heat large sauté pan on high, add vegetable oil. Saute chicken thigh pieces until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add butter to the pan. Once melted, add the onion and saute about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and saute about 4 more minutes until brown. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Mix in 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, and herbes de provence.
- Deglaze the pan by adding the wine. Reduce heat to low, simmer, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes.
- Add flour, cook until thick and flour just starting to brown. Slowly whisk in chicken broth.
- Add chicken thighs back to pan. Add cream. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Pour into 8 x 8 casserole dish.
- Unfold the puff pastry. Slightly roll out to get rid of creases. Drape over the top of the casserole dish.
- Whisk egg and brush over the pastry.
- Bake the dish in the oven for 15 minutes at 400°. Lower the temperature to 375° and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Pull out of oven to rest. Preheat oven back to 400° for asparagus.
- Toss the asparagus with 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.
- Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve immediately with the pie.
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