Chicken Chasseur

A few weeks ago I spent the week in Houston for Spring Break. While there I cooked dinner for some friends and made Chicken Chasseur. Basically this is chicken braised in a brown sauce. Braising is a dual cooking method, first you saute/brown, then you bake/steam in the oven. It's very simple, has incredible flavor and presents beautifully. The only drawback is that it is not quick. More than likely you will need about two hours to prepare.

Ingredients:
Assorted pieces of bone-in (with skin) chicken - legs, thighs, breasts (split & cut in half) or two whole chickens broken down into 8 pieces.
2oz of oil
1 stick of butter
4 shallots, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, thickly sliced or quartered
8 cups of veal/beef stock (I used a reconstituted veal stock base called More Than Gourmet from Central Market. Another good base if you can find it is called Custom Culinary. Do not use bouillon. Last resort, Kitchen Basics has veal stock in a box.)
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup of flour (aprox.)
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded & diced
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add chicken pieces & brown on both sides. You just want a good amount of color on the skin. You are not trying to cook the chicken through. Remove chicken from the pot & set aside.
Add butter to pan, allow to melt, add shallots & mushrooms, let sweat, add the wine, deglaze the pot (dissolving all of the brown bits off the bottom of the pan), reduce wine by 3/4s, begin to add flour slowly until a roux forms that is the consistency of creamy peanut butter. Let the roux cook & darken to a blonde state. Stir in tomato paste. Begin to add about 1/2 of the stock, slowly, stirring constantly. Add the chicken back to the pot. Continue to add stock until the chicken is a little more than 1/2 covered. (You may not need as much stock as the recipe calls for. Watch the consistency of the sauce. It should not be too thin or liquidy.)

Cover pot & transfer to a 350 degree oven. Let cook for at least 30 minutes, more than likely close to an hour. (Check it a couple of times for doneness & chicken tenderness.) Remove chicken to a serving bowl leaving sauce in the pot. Place pot on the stove over medium heat & allow sauce to reduce & thicken slightly. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with diced tomatoes & chopped parsley.