Wine-Braised Chicken With Mushrooms and Leeks Recipe (2024)

With braised chicken instead of chopped garlic I like to put whole, peeled cloves in at the beginning and mash them into the sauce with a wooden spoon at the end. They end up caramelized and have a nice, creamy texture.

Stir a TBSP of flour into the sour cream before adding to hot liquids to keep the sour cream from splitting.

You can make your own creme fraîche by adding a tablespoon of cultured buttermilk to a cup of heavy cream in a glass jar with a lid and leaving it on the counter until it thickens (at least 12 hours, depending on how thick you want it). It should keep up to two weeks in the fridge after that.

I never understand why recipes call for tiny bits of garlic to sauté for 5 minutes. I can't enjoy the burnt taste so I will skip this step but add more sliced garlic towards the end of the mushroom sauté!

I wish Melissa Clark, Sam, or some other cooking person at the NYT would address this adding-finely-grated-garlic-early issue. I agree with Zuzu that adding finely grated garlic for seven minutes, regardless of how low the heat is, simply does not work, at least for most of us. Yet so many NYT recipes suggest doing this. What is the secret to not burning the garlic? Going with Marie-Claude’s smart suggestion of leaving the cloves whole here. So frustrating to always be dealing with burnt garlic!

This recipe is absolutely delicious, it’s now in our regular dinner rotation and fancy enough for company. The two changes I would make are (1) don’t put garlic on the raw chicken (it gets burned and bitter, add more with the leeks instead) and (2) add just the oil all at once for browning the chicken and then add all of the butter just before browning the mushrooms. If you split it 50/50 as written, the protein in the butter causes the chicken skin to stick to the pan during the browning.

I made this last night. Used boneless breasts and thighs. Turned out perfect. Key really is to find big mushrooms- oyster or hen mushrooms. Also I would not use red wine- stick with white. Consider putting some fresh tarragon in the sauce when you add the crème fraiche. Enjoy!

"1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (preferably specialty mushrooms, such as king, hen-of-the-woods, chanterelles or black trumpet, or a combination"Because these are so easy to find outside of Manhattan and Brooklyn - where most of us live.

This is a very elegant and delicious dish. For mushrooms, I used a combination of hen of the woods and chanterelles. I used bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, and instead of tenting the thighs while I finished the sauce, I popped them under the broiler to recrisp the skins after braising. Otherwise, the skin is gelatinous and rubbery. Crisp skin is one of the more heavenly culinary experiences after all. I served this with buttered noodles and parsley. Divine.

If I were making this a day ahead, I would stop at step 5 and use the lower end (i.e. 25 minutes) of the recommended cooking time to allow for the fact that I would be reheating the chicken the next day. Then, I would start step 6 by slowly bringing the chicken up to a simmer over medium heat to ensure that it was warmed through, and then follow the recipe as written.

New product found at Trader Joes in freezer section. Mashed cloves of garlic. Just pop them out of the little tray - no burning and they whisk right in with the leeks and wine.

Did not add any creme fraiche or sour cream. The sauce in the pan was enough. Very good and easy.

Excellent as written. I used salt & pepper on the chicken per the recipe, then a dusting of garlic powder rather than grate raw garlic. When I put the mushrooms in the pot, I added the 4 whole garlic cloves (as someone suggested) and just let them caramelize through the rest of the cooking. Next time, I may add a few more mushrooms and a bit more wine to get more sauce.

If the garlic is burning in step 4 you've got the heat too high.

Be careful: Sour cream has a tendency to split when cooked.

The rosemary is a great touch - it scents the sauce very subtly. We loved this and it will go into our regular rotation.

Double sauce…so double everything

Can anyone recommend a light starter if I serve this for a dinner party?

Made 2/18/24. Might next time try removing the skin from the chicken thighs to reduce the calories from fat. Because the skin isn't crispy, it really doesn't add anything to the dish.

Fancy, easy, delicious

Loved this recipe - very rich but very satisfying. Thank you Melissa, again!

The recipe was perfect as is, excellent results...a real keeper

I don't understand. How can two large leeks be four cups worth? Ive never seen leeks THAT big

Great recipe, do yourself a favor and prep all the veggies first. Agree with other reviewers that sliced or even whole garlic works well. Didn’t have the lemon handy and it’s below freezing outside so a trip outdoors to buy a lemon was not going to happen. Will make it again and be sure to have the lemon. Incredibly aromatic and delicious. Also used sour cream with a tbsp of flour to keep it from separating.

Practice humbly accepting praise if you make mashed potatoes to accompany this!

You had me at mushrooms and leeks!! This was really delicious and not hard to make! THank you!!

Used 1 pkg boneless, skinless thighs- salt, pepper and garlic powder; half box of fresh mushrooms with 1 C soaked hen of the woods pieces (drained); 1 large leek; 4-5 sliced garlic cloves added with leeks. Seared chicken then after adding back cooked for about 15 min. Used fat free half n half to finish.

Very good dish! However, I find white wine to add little to many recipes, especially those with with strongly flavored ingredients, such as a lot of garlic and leeks and herbs, and I'm not about to open a good bottle of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc for that purpose. So I used some inexpensive "cooking" Sherry, which kicked up the recipe a bit.

Chad loves this recipe

Read some of the notes beforehand. Got chicken thighs slightly over the weight specified. Used garlic powder with the salt and pepper on the chicken. Cooked them in oil, added the butter with the mushrooms and leeks. Used more mushrooms than called for, because I like them. Kept my garlic cloves whole and mashed them at the end. Didn't have creme fraiche. Didn't think it was needed, but I had some heavy cream, so added a splash for richness. Delicious!