6 chicken thighs, boneless skinless

6 - 8 mushrooms

1 large baking potato or sweet potato

1 large fennel bulb

6 - 8 cloves of garlic

1 ½ cups low-salt chicken stock

½ - ¾ cup vermouth

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

Optional: 4 hot Italian sausage links

salt

pepper

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried sage

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

½ cup light sour cream

1 tablespoon cornstarch

freshly chopped parsley

It is best to prepare the vegetables first, so the assembly goes smoothly.  Mushrooms should be cleaned and halved - quartered if they’re quite large, or add more if they’re really tiny.  The potato should be peeled and cut into large chunks - I cut once lengthwise, and then chop four or five times across the width.  Peel the garlic cloves.  Trim the fennel bulb by cutting off the stalks from the top (reserve any feathery green bits and a small piece of one of the stalks for garnish) and using a sharp knife to slice away any brown or dry bits.  Cut the fennel into quarters, top to bottom, and then cut each quarter in  half so that you have eight nice wedges, with the core at the bottom of each slice anchoring the onion-like layers together. Don’t remove the core - it is delicious, and gets nicely soft.

In a non-stick skillet, sear the (lightly salted) chicken over high heat until the outside is dark golden brown but the meat is not fully cooked.  Remove to a large, lidded, ovenproof dish.  If using sausage, add the links to the pan now, and brown the outsides. Throw the mushrooms into the skillet, along with the vermouth and a quarter teaspoon of salt.  Stir, to loosen any stuck-on chicken flavour from the bottom of the pan, and let boil furiously for a minute or two. 

While the mushrooms are boiling, arrange the prepared vegetables around and on top of the chicken.  Season lightly with salt* and heartily with black pepper, and sprinkle about a half-teaspoon each of the thyme, sage, and fennel seeds over top.  Stir the mushrooms again, and add the dijon and  the chicken stock, stirring well until it comes back to the boil.  Dump the mushrooms and liquid carefully overtop of the chicken and vegetables, and put the lid on.  Bake (braise) in a 350 F oven for 30 minutes. 

While the dish is baking, mix the sour cream and cornstarch thoroughly in a small bowl.  Remove dish from the oven and, with a big slotted spoon, remove the chicken and vegetables onto a serving platter.  Garnish with chopped fennel fronds and thinly sliced fennel stalk, loosely scattered over the top of the platter, and a dusting of parsley for colour.

Place the braising dish, with it’s liquid, over a high heat burner and bring to a boil.  Scrape the sour cream mixture into the liquid to make a thin sauce.  You may need to whisk like crazy, boiling the whole time, to get it nice and smooth.   You can pass the sauce separately at the table, in a gravy boat or large creamer, or you can drizzle it over the platter before serving.  A big green salad goes nicely.

* if the chicken stock that you are using is quite salty, you probably don’t need to add salt here.  I use homemade chicken stock which is very low in salt, or a reduced-salt instant stock when desperate.