Chicken in french oven

As you know, France is famous for its exquisite cuisine. It is the French culinary specialists that can truly be considered the legislators of recipes for the preparation of many classic dishes. Chicken in French is prepared, as a rule, with vegetable garnish and under cheese sauce. A dish made according to this recipe is very nourishing and tasty.

Let's learn how to cook it.

The history of the dish

Despite the name, chicken in French is not considered a national dish of French cuisine. In France, the national dish is called gratin, and it is based on pork or veal. Instead of cheese sauce, the French use bechamel. Its difference lies in the features of cooking: milk and nutmeg are added to the flour. Our housewives use mayonnaise or grated cheese in French for cooking chicken.

Argued that the chicken in French got its name in Russia. Once, for Prince Orlov, a veal with cheese sauce was cooked by a French cook. In the modern interpretation of this recipe, chicken is used as meat. This dish turns out very satisfying. It will be a wonderful decoration for a festive and everyday table.

French chicken in the oven: cooking secrets from experienced chefs

Experienced cooks give their tips to the housewives on how to cook chicken in French oven baked properly. Here are some of them:

• To prepare such a dish, you can use chicken meat of any part: you can chop a whole carcass, purchase thighs or breasts separately. In the latter case, the dish will turn out to be dietary, due to the low calorie content of the chicken breast.
• Meat must be either fresh or slightly chilled. Frozen chicken is best not to cook according to this recipe, because the meat will be dry and hard.
• For baking and even roasting the dish must be laid out in layers. The bottom layer is meat, then onions and potatoes. From above, be sure to pour potatoes with mayonnaise or sprinkle with grated cheese.
• If you plan to cook a small portion of meat, then use a small baking sheet, because in a large form it will dry.
• In addition, mushrooms can be used as a side dish.
• Spices will add special savor and unforgettable taste to the dish. Pick up should be spices that are ideal for both chicken and vegetables. It can be oregano, marjoram, paprika or nutmeg.
• The cheese should be rubbed on a fine grater and laid in a thick layer so that the finished dish gets a golden crust. If you want to cook a dietary dish, you can replace hard cheese with cheese.
• The more onions, the better. When baking, the onion produces juice, due to which the meat is tender and very juicy. Pre-onion can be marinated for half an hour.
• Vegetables are best spread on a baking sheet overlap. So all the ingredients are roasted evenly.
• Potatoes can be cut in different ways. The main thing is that all portioned pieces should be thin, since the thick ones may not fry and the potatoes will remain dry and damp.

Classic recipe with photos

As already mentioned, for cooking chicken in French, you can use any chicken meat. Many housewives give preference to chicken fillet, since this meat is notable for its special tenderness and low calorie content.

Composition:

• chicken meat (fillet) - 1 kg;
• onions - 2-3 pcs .;
• potatoes - 700 g;
• hard cheese - 300 g;
• mayonnaise - 100-150 g;
• sunflower or olive oil - 1 tbsp. l .;
• salt, pepper mixture and other seasonings.

Cooking:

1. Chicken meat should be thoroughly washed and dried. It needs to be cut into longitudinal portion pieces, it is desirable that they turn out thin.
2. Then, using a kitchen hammer, slightly beat off the slices of chicken fillet.
   
3. Grease the baking sheet evenly with sunflower or olive oil, and put the pieces of meat on top (a little overlap).
4. Chicken meat should be salted and seasoned with spices. It is best to use universal spices that are suitable for meat and vegetable dishes.
5. Potatoes need to be cleaned and thoroughly washed. Cut the roots in portions, preferably in circles, and lay out the next layer.
6. Onions need to be cleaned and cut into rings or half rings. Pre-onion can be marinated for 30 minutes. Put the sliced ​​onion on top of the potatoes. Remember, the more onions, the juicier the chicken in French.
7. Grate hard cheese.
8. Grated cheese is laid out in the following layer. You need to gently rub it with your hands so that the layer is dense. The more cheese, the thicker the crust.
9. Optionally, the dish can be poured over with mayonnaise.
10. Bake chicken in French should be in the oven for at least 40 minutes at a temperature of 200 °.
11. The finished dish is cut into portions and served hot.

French Meat with Tomatoes

As already mentioned, the classic recipe for meat in French includes necessarily veal. Currently, housewives are experimenting, adding new ingredients, so you can cook this dish from chicken. The peculiarity of this recipe is that you must add white wine to the sauce.

Traditionally, the dish is prepared with the addition of fresh tomatoes. Tomatoes are pre-boiled and skin is removed from them. Cooking chicken meat in French is quite simple. His recipe is not significantly different from the classic. Only in the dish do not need to add mayonnaise and potatoes.

Cooking features:

1. The basis can also take chicken fillet. They beat him well, salt, pepper and add various spices. It is best to give preference to seasonings of oregano, marjoram and nutmeg.
2. Onions are laid on top of the meat, then tomatoes are cut into rings.
3. For cooking chicken meat from French, you can use two different types of cheese. One type of cheese laid out the top layer (you can rub it). And the next layer of cheese is laid out approximately 20-25 minutes after the start of baking the meat.
4. French chicken meat can be served to the table with any vegetable garnish.

Original ways to cook your favorite dishes

Experienced housewives slightly modified the recipe for cooking chicken in French and came up with their own original ways:

• with the addition of cream sauce (butter);
• with tomatoes;
• with mushrooms;
• with lemon juice;
• with hot pepper;
• with the addition of ham;
• from various sorts of meat, etc.

If you want to give the dish a truly savory and refined taste, it is best to replace the mayonnaise with traditional French sauce. Most often, housewives use bechamel, which is quite simple to cook at home. For cooking chicken meat from French, you can use wine and chicken broth. As a rule, these ingredients are added to the dish after baking starts. Wine will give the dish an unforgettable aroma and savory taste, and chicken broth will make the meat more juicy and tender.

As you can see, there are several different recipes for cooking chicken in French. If you want to cook this dish immediately with a side dish, be sure to bake the meat according to the classic recipe with the addition of potatoes. You can pamper your family or surprise guests by cooking French meat from chicken fillet with tomatoes. You can decorate the dish with greens. Enjoy your meal!