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A simple dish that tastes decadent and fresh all at the same time. Sorrel Chicken.
Inspired by my time in Louviers, France, in Susan Herrmann Loomis’ kitchen, Susan introduced me to an herb I had not grown in my herb garden until this year – Sorrel. A lovely citrus flavor large oblong leaf of a plant, the magic it brought to this simple wine sauce made an impression on my tastebuds.
Sorrel Chicken placed on top of angel hair pasta
Since cooking the recipe in 2018 in France, I have enjoyed it multiple times, and am excited to share it with you today. Having grown my own sorrel in the garden this year, I don’t foresee ever not having it readily available again. Use in fish dishes or any other dish in which you want a lemon sauce without the lemon, and you will be delighted with the burst of flavor this simple herb provides.
Today is also the debut of my new kitchen. For two years, I was fortunate to have a kitchen in my rental that enabled me to cook easily in front of a camera. Now, in my very own home and after a month of renovations to the kitchen, while the stovetop may not be in the island as it used to be, I am excited to share with you my new space.
Look for a detailed post in October, actually TWO detailed posts, as I will give viewers and readers (TOP Tier subscribers only) an exclusive tour of my kitchen and share why I chose to welcome a La Cornue Cornufé 110 stove in Provence Blue into my sanctuary. Needless to say, it is a dream come true.
But first, and most importantly, the premiere of Season 3 of The Simply Luxurious Kitchen! And because I had promised to begin each season on the second Saturday in September, and this year I am behind by one week due to the kitchen construction, enjoy the first two episodes of Season 3 today. Click here for episode #2 – Herbed Gougères when you have finished viewing this episode.
The entire first episode is below, and this year, I have added two new components to each episode:
Just Made Available! Digital Cookbooks for Each Season of the Show! If you are looking for all of the recipes for each previous season in one easy to find place without having to click through each episode for each season, I now have available a Digital Cookbook for Seasons 1 & 2 ($8). Shop here. (Note: All TOP Tier ad-free subscribers can download these cookbooks for free, and grandfathered/mothered ad-free subscribers, you too will be able to access them for free – we have had to tend to a small glitch, but it will be worked out soon. My apologies for the delay.)
I do hope you enjoy the premiere. 🙂
~NOTE to readers who cannot see a video below: Be sure to turn off your ad-blocker if you use one as you will not be able to see a video at all if the ad-blocker is in use.
~Tour my full kitchen and learn all of the details and my approach to this new space as well as how I decided on a La Cornue stove to be my lifetime stove. I am so tickled with how it was customized and transformed this summer (2020). (be sure to become a TOP Tier subscriber to be able to view the tour post.)
An Everyday Luxury
—Gardeners’ World on BBC, via BritBox and Amazon Prime
Links from the Episode
- Sorrel seeds from Johnny’s Seeds
- My time attending Susan Hermann Loomis Cooking Class in Louviers, Normandy, France
- View the recipe for today’s episode at the end of the post.
~View Episode #2 of this season here. Gougéres!
~Cook & Share! I would love to share your Simply Luxurious Kitchen inspired experiences from your kitchen! Tag me on Instagram with @thesimplyluxuriouslife #tslkitchen and your post could appear on my Instagram feed. Many readers have already shared their meals inspired by recipes from TSLKitchen. Check out TSLL’s IG Story Highlights – titled, Viewers’ Recipes. And see the most recent shares since Season 1 wrapped up as viewers began to explore the recipes in their own kitchens. Over the past year, the croissant recipe (Season 2, Episode #6) was the most popular. Have a look below at a handful of pics shared by readers/viewers on IG, and be sure to share your next experience in the kitchen exploring one of TSLK recipes.
Sorrel Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on
- 3-5 ounces pancetta thickly diced
- 1-2 Tbsp extra virgon olive oil for the pan
- 1-2 medium sweet onions sliced thinly
- 3/4 cup dry white wine select a wine you will be enjoying with your meal
- 2 bay leaves fresh if possible, dried works well also
- 2-4 cups fresh sorrel leaves roughly chopped (substitute with lemon zest and juice – 1-2 lemons)
- 3/4 cup crème fraîche heavy whipped cream is a substitute
- fleur de sel & freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- Using a Dutch oven or large skillet fitted with a cover (to use later). Over medium heat, add the olive oil and then the pancetta to brown.
- Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Season (salt and pepper) and pat dry the chicken thighs. Place the thighs into the skillet/Dutch oven to brown on both sides, but not to cook through. About 4-5 minutes on each side. Don't forget to season the second side. When all sides are brown, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. (While the chicken is browning, chop up your onions.)
- Add the onions to the same skillet. Stir intermittently, about 8 minutes until they are nearly translucent and soft. Still over medium heat, add the white wine to the skillet with the onions. Scrape the brown pieces stuck to the pan so they become loose (do not remove). Add the bacon and the chicken back to the pan with the onions. Add the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately reduce to medium. Cover the skillet/Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through. Approximately 20 minutes in total, flip the chicken after 10 minutes have passed.
- While the chicken cooks on the stovetop, find your sorrel (whether picked fresh from the garden or from the store). Chop roughly.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken from the pan and place on the intended serving platter. Remove the bay leaves and bring the sauce to a medium-high boil. Keep the until the sauce reduced by about half and is thick. Then stir in the crème fraîche, and warm up the sauce until it is steaming as initially the crème will cool the sauce.
- Stir in the chopped sorrel to the sauce and let it incorporate for about 4-5 minutes. The sauce will change color to a light, olive-color green. This is good. Your sauce is gaining the flavor of the sorrel – a citrusy, lemon flavor.
- Taste the sauce and season as necessary, and add more salt and/or pepper if needed.
- Place the chicken and the juices on the platter back to the sauce. Let the chicken be covered with the sauce to warm them thighs back up. Cooking over medium heat, this should take about 3-5 minutes.
- Now it is time to dine! Place the chicken on a platter, spooning the sauce over the thighs. An option is to cook pasta and place the chicken on top of a bed of pasta. The sauce is ample and will taste wonderfully with the chicken and the pasta.
- Enjoy!
Tune in next Saturday for a brand new episode, and view more Episodes of The Simply Luxurious Kitchen here.
~Beginning on October 1, 2020, a significant change and much anticipated improvements in engagement will be coming to TSLL blog. Only subscribers will be able to view more than five posts a month along with other exclusive content (Shannon’s Home & Garden Tours, Giveaways, Saturday Ponderings, etc.). Learn all about TSLL’s Soft Paywall here.
Bravo Shannon! What a wonderful delight to end my week! I truly enjoyed the premier of Season 3 and will be on the hunt for Sorrel so that I can re-create this dish in my kitchen. Thank you for giving a substitute for Sorrel as I have only seen it on occasion in the market. I looking forward to the rest of your season as well as hearing all about your kitchen renovation. Thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you for tuning in Lilia! So delighted to hear you enjoyed this first episode. Yes, lemon zest and juice works just fine, and I cannot recommend highly sowing your own Sorrel seeds – they are quite easy to grow. 🙂 Wishing you a lovely weekend. xo
Absolutely stunning renovation on your Kitchen, et je suis d’accord, absolument bravo Shannon! ????
Watching you move with ease and confidence is so inspiring . I personally can not wait to welcome your future cookbook into my kitchen.??? The recipes you choose is uncomplicated and very tasty , with such a flair of luxury .
Many many thanks Shannon???????
Thank you for viewing the premiere of the new season Amanda. ?
Congratulations, Shannon, on the start of Season 3 of the Simply Luxurious Kitchen! Throughout the episode, I was not only focused on the delicious chicken dish you were baking, but also in awe of the editing and various angles you filmed to make this episode seamless from beginning to end. I cannot imagine all the hard work and creative energy that went into producing this episode, but do know that it has definitely paid off 🙂 It was such a pleasure to see you in front of the camera. You exude authenticity and confidence, which is both refreshing and inspiring. Thank you for brightening my Saturday morning. Bon samedi!
Stéphanie, thank you for enjoying the episodes today and for your kind comment. I am chuffed. Certainly, I have soooo much to learn, but I enjoy trying to figure it all out and bring it to viewers like yourself as best as I can. Wishing you a lovely Saturday as well. ??
Good Morning Shannon! Beautifully presented recipes, I will try each one. My sister has been using Sorrel for some time, she first introduced it to me with seafood. She got hers from an Asian grocer/gardener and now also grows her own. In Winter I use an Aerogarden for growing my herbs, not sure if Sorrel is available but now you have given me an idea! Thank you, your kitchen, your boys, and you make a happy kitchen!
Thank you for sharing where you sister found her sorrel. 🙂 And for reminding us about ideas for how to grow herbs indoors and start our own seeds. 🙂
Well done, Shannon! I so enjoyed this. Your kitchen is absolutely lovely. Ironically, I was paging through Susan Herrmann Loomis’s French Farmhouse Cookbook right before I pressed play. Looking forward to the remainder of the season.
I’ve made your Farro Salad with Tomatoes, Herbs, and Chicken countless times. It’s so delicious. (I leave out the chicken and avocado and use a full can of chickpeas…not that the full recipe isn’t wonderful.)
Because you made me aware of farro, I sought out other uses. Last night I made Farro Risotto with Spinach Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, and Almonds from Sam Kass’s Eat a Little Better excellent cookbook. His Farro Risotto with Asparagus, Peas, and Parmesan is even better. Thank you for introducing me to a new grain!
Enjoy the weekend. It is gorgeous here in Wisconsin. I hope it’s lovely wherever you all are as well. ??
Thank you for sharing new ideas to enjoy Farro. 🙂 I so enjoy hearing what readers/viewers have been enjoying from the show and cooking in their kitchen. Thank you for tuning in. 🙂
I cannot wait to try this Sorrel Chicken recipe, it looks delicious! I may have to substitute lemon initially but i may try and sow my own sorrel seeds next spring to welcome some into my own garden.
I enjoyed the addition of your chatting to the camera, and i was so tickled to see that you had gardener’s world as your everyday luxury for this week. I also enjoy watching this and discovered it this year, after starting to spend more time int he garden. I find Monty (and Adam!) are so unpretentious about their gardening and seem to appreciate every effort anyone makes.
The kitchen is stunning too! That cooker is just beautiful to look at. What a focal point.
Can’t wait for the rest of the season.
Best wishes 🙂
Sarah, Thank you for checking out the premiere of the new season! I think you will enjoy having sorrel in the kitchen. 🙂
Looks delicious. Once you discover sorrel you wouldn’t want to be without it. Makes a great soup ?
I LOVE your new kitchen! The range is BEAUTIFUL! And I love your wisks and copper pots hanging above. Your kitchen faucet is also very chic. You’ve truly designed a French kitchen while retaining your “Shannon-ess” with your teapots and bookcase full of cookbooks and books. Well done!
I’m looking forward to downloading your recipes and watching your Vodcasts.
Thank you for checking out the new season Julie. ☺️ I am so grateful to my contractor for helping me to bringing what I had in my mind to life. It is a simple, yet fun kitchen to work in. ?
I loved the show Shannon! The chicken looked wonderful and your kitchen is fantastic! Thank you.
Thank you so much! And for tuning in! I love pairing this dish with pasta – a comfort and satiating as well. 🙂
I always love a new recipe with a creme sauce. One question though as I like a lemon flavor but not one that is over powering but rather just subtle. So I am wondering if this dish has a very pronounced lemon flavor as I am assuming it does with as much sorrel that you put in it? Your kitchen is beautiful and congrats on becoming relatively new home owner! Looking forward to the rest of the season!
No, is not pronounced. Sorrel wilts down much like spinach, which is why you need so much. It is subtle and thus ideal. 🙂
Thank you so much for all of your hard work with these wonderful cooking lessons! I have been looking forward to season three, and especially enjoy the new additions, your personal chats and the petit plaisir at the end. Gardeners World has become one of my simple pleasures as well, and I love how you link the garden to the kitchen and your recipes!
Wonderful Shannon, I enjoyed it so much. Your kitchen??and chair beside the book shelf inspired me to try something similar. I can only imagine the work that went into the piece. You doing in front of the camera and behind AWESOME. One small detail and it wouldn’t in any way stop me watching but the sound of the cooking can be louder than your voice. Maybe a mic for you???? Just a small thing meant as constructive feedback. WELL DONE!
Thank you very much for tuning in Eilish, and for the feedback. I certainly know the audio isn’t perfect. I am just tickled the video recording is what it is! ☺️ in the future I may try to figure out more tech. So happy you enjoyed. Have a wonderful week.
This sounds delicious and looks like something I can manage. I’m hoping my grocery store will have the sorrel. Congrats on season 3. I bet it is going to be a huge success for you! This was my first time watching but I will definitely be tuning in this season and catching upon the last 2 seasons.
Thank you for tuning in Deb. 🙂 I hope you are able to find sorrel.It does pop up from time to time in certain grocery markets.