Recipes, re-invented from cooking shows
Pan-Fried Chicken with Madeira Sauce
Prep. Time:
Baking Time:
Total Time:
45 minutes
1 hour 15 minutes
2 hours
Serves:
2 servings
Brendan created this dish for MasterChef UK ™ Series 22. Anna Haugh called it the best chicken skin she had ever tasted, and Grace Dent praised the beautifully cooked, not-dry chicken and the butter-rich mash. This Fix-It preserves every element the judges loved and rebalances only the Madeira sauce...
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Ingredients
FOR THE BUTTERY MASH:
1 lb / 450 g floury potatoes (e.g. Maris Piper), peeled and cut into even chunks
5 tbsp / 70 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3–4 tbsp / 45–60 ml whole milk or cream, warmed
Fine salt, to taste
FOR THE ROASTED ONION & CARROTS:
1 small onion, halved or cut into wedges
2 medium carrots, cut into batons
1 tbsp / 15 ml olive oil
1 tbsp / 15 g butter
1 sprig thyme
FOR THE MUSHROOM & BLACK GARLIC PURÉE:
1 shallot, finely diced
1 tbsp / 15 g butter
7 oz / 200 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
3 black garlic cloves, mashed to a paste
2 tbsp / 30 ml double (heavy) cream
Salt, to taste
FOR THE CRISPY BLACK PUDDING:
3.5 oz / 100 g black pudding, cut into small cubes or crumbled
1 tsp / 5 ml neutral oil
FOR THE PAN-FRIED CHICKEN & CRISPY SKIN:
2 skin-on chicken breasts (supremes), free-range — remove and reserve the skin
Flaky sea salt, to taste, for the skin and seasoning
1 tbsp / 15 ml neutral oil, for frying
2 tbsp / 30 g unsalted butter, for basting
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed, skin on
2 sprigs fresh thyme
FOR THE REBALANCED MADEIRA SAUCE:
1 shallot, finely sliced
2 tbsp / 30 ml dry white wine
1/4 cup / 60 ml Madeira (drier style: Sercial or Verdelho)
2 cups / 500 ml brown chicken stock, reduced to about 1 cup / 250 ml
2 tbsp / 30 g cold butter, to finish
1/2 tsp / 2–3 ml sherry vinegar, a few drops to balance at the end
Salt and black pepper, to taste
EQUIPMENT:
Ovenproof heavy-based frying pan
Potato Ricer or Smooth Potato Masher
Blender or food processor
Two baking trays and parchment
Small heavy saucepans
Fish slice / palette knife and a fine-bladed knife
Method
STEP 1: REDUCE THE STOCK
Reduce the brown chicken stock by about half over medium-high heat, from 2 cups (500 ml) down to roughly 1 cup (250 ml) of deep, savoury liquid; set aside. This concentrated stock is the backbone of the corrected sauce — it carries body and richness so the Madeira can step back without the dish losing depth.
STEP 2: BUTTERY MASH
Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until completely tender, 18–20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and let them dry off for 2 minutes. Pass through a potato ricer (or a smooth potato masher). Beat in the cold cubed butter a little at a time, then the warmed milk or cream, until glossy and rich; season. Keep it generous — this was praised as beautiful and full of butter.
STEP 3: ROASTED ONION & CARROTS
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Toss the onion and carrot batons with olive oil, butter, thyme and salt. Roast 20–25 minutes until tender and caramelised at the edges. These roasted vegetables carry real sweetness — the sauce is balanced against them.
STEP 4: MUSHROOM & BLACK GARLIC PURÉE
Sweat the diced shallot in butter until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook them right down until deeply browned and dry, driving off the water and building flavour. Stir in the mashed black garlic, then the cream. Blend until smooth, season, and pass through a fine sieve. Keep warm.
STEP 5: CRISPY BLACK PUDDING
Fry the black pudding in a little oil until crisp on all sides. Drain on paper and reserve to crown the dish at the end so it stays crisp.
STEP 6: CRISPY CHICKEN SKIN
Lay the reserved chicken skin flat between two sheets of parchment on a baking tray and weight it with a second tray. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15–20 minutes until glass-crisp and golden. Season with flaky sea salt. This was the dish's high point — keep it exactly as is.
STEP 7: PAN-FRIED CHICKEN
Season the skinless breasts. Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan and brown the chicken well on both sides. Add the butter, crushed garlic and thyme, and baste. Finish in the oven to an internal temperature of 162–165°F (72–74°C), then rest for 5 minutes for chicken that stays juicy, not dry.
STEP 8: MADEIRA SAUCE — ACID FIRST
In the chicken pan, sweat the sliced shallot in the residual fat. Deglaze with the dry white wine and cook it out almost completely; that early acidity is the first lever against sweetness. Add the Madeira — a restrained 1/4 cup (60 ml), markedly less than the pour that tipped the original over — and reduce until syrupy.
STEP 9: MADEIRA SAUCE — BUILD ON SAVOURY
Pour in the reduced brown chicken stock and simmer until the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon. With the savoury stock carrying the body, the Madeira no longer has to. Taste as it reduces: it should read rich and savoury, not sweet.
STEP 10: MADEIRA SAUCE — GLOSS & BALANCE
Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter to gloss the sauce. Check it against the sweetness of the roasted vegetables and add the sherry vinegar a few drops at a time until bright and balanced; season. This is the single change that answers the judges' note that the sauce ran too sweet.
STEP 11: PLATE
Sweep the mushroom and black garlic purée across warm plates. Add a quenelle of buttery mash and the roasted onion and carrots. Slice or set the rested chicken, crown it with the crisp black pudding, and stand the shard of crispy chicken skin on top. Spoon the rebalanced Madeira sauce around the plate — not over the crispy skin — and serve at once.
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Instructions
FOR THE BUTTERY MASH:
1 lb / 450 g floury potatoes (e.g. Maris Piper), peeled and cut into even chunks
5 tbsp / 70 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3–4 tbsp / 45–60 ml whole milk or cream, warmed
Fine salt, to taste
FOR THE ROASTED ONION & CARROTS:
1 small onion, halved or cut into wedges
2 medium carrots, cut into batons
1 tbsp / 15 ml olive oil
1 tbsp / 15 g butter
1 sprig thyme
FOR THE MUSHROOM & BLACK GARLIC PURÉE:
1 shallot, finely diced
1 tbsp / 15 g butter
7 oz / 200 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
3 black garlic cloves, mashed to a paste
2 tbsp / 30 ml double (heavy) cream
Salt, to taste
FOR THE CRISPY BLACK PUDDING:
3.5 oz / 100 g black pudding, cut into small cubes or crumbled
1 tsp / 5 ml neutral oil
FOR THE PAN-FRIED CHICKEN & CRISPY SKIN:
2 skin-on chicken breasts (supremes), free-range — remove and reserve the skin
Flaky sea salt, to taste, for the skin and seasoning
1 tbsp / 15 ml neutral oil, for frying
2 tbsp / 30 g unsalted butter, for basting
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed, skin on
2 sprigs fresh thyme
FOR THE REBALANCED MADEIRA SAUCE:
1 shallot, finely sliced
2 tbsp / 30 ml dry white wine
1/4 cup / 60 ml Madeira (drier style: Sercial or Verdelho)
2 cups / 500 ml brown chicken stock, reduced to about 1 cup / 250 ml
2 tbsp / 30 g cold butter, to finish
1/2 tsp / 2–3 ml sherry vinegar, a few drops to balance at the end
Salt and black pepper, to taste
EQUIPMENT:
Ovenproof heavy-based frying pan
Potato Ricer or Smooth Potato Masher
Blender or food processor
Two baking trays and parchment
Fine-mesh sieve
Small heavy saucepans
Digital probe thermometer
Fish slice / palette knife and a fine-bladed knife
Heading 5
Ingredients
STEP 1: REDUCE THE STOCK
Reduce the brown chicken stock by about half over medium-high heat, from 2 cups (500 ml) down to roughly 1 cup (250 ml) of deep, savoury liquid; set aside. This concentrated stock is the backbone of the corrected sauce — it carries body and richness so the Madeira can step back without the dish losing depth.
STEP 2: BUTTERY MASH
Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until completely tender, 18–20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and let them dry off for 2 minutes. Pass through a potato ricer (or a smooth potato masher). Beat in the cold cubed butter a little at a time, then the warmed milk or cream, until glossy and rich; season. Keep it generous — this was praised as beautiful and full of butter.
STEP 3: ROASTED ONION & CARROTS
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Toss the onion and carrot batons with olive oil, butter, thyme and salt. Roast 20–25 minutes until tender and caramelised at the edges. These roasted vegetables carry real sweetness — the sauce is balanced against them.
STEP 4: MUSHROOM & BLACK GARLIC PURÉE
Sweat the diced shallot in butter until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook them right down until deeply browned and dry, driving off the water and building flavour. Stir in the mashed black garlic, then the cream. Blend until smooth, season, and pass through a fine sieve. Keep warm.
STEP 5: CRISPY BLACK PUDDING
Fry the black pudding in a little oil until crisp on all sides. Drain on paper and reserve to crown the dish at the end so it stays crisp.
STEP 6: CRISPY CHICKEN SKIN
Lay the reserved chicken skin flat between two sheets of parchment on a baking tray and weight it with a second tray. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15–20 minutes until glass-crisp and golden. Season with flaky sea salt. This was the dish's high point — keep it exactly as is.
STEP 7: PAN-FRIED CHICKEN
Season the skinless breasts. Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan and brown the chicken well on both sides. Add the butter, crushed garlic and thyme, and baste. Finish in the oven to an internal temperature of 162–165°F (72–74°C), then rest for 5 minutes for chicken that stays juicy, not dry.
STEP 8: MADEIRA SAUCE — ACID FIRST
In the chicken pan, sweat the sliced shallot in the residual fat. Deglaze with the dry white wine and cook it out almost completely; that early acidity is the first lever against sweetness. Add the Madeira — a restrained 1/4 cup (60 ml), markedly less than the pour that tipped the original over — and reduce until syrupy.
STEP 9: MADEIRA SAUCE — BUILD ON SAVOURY
Pour in the reduced brown chicken stock and simmer until the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon. With the savoury stock carrying the body, the Madeira no longer has to. Taste as it reduces: it should read rich and savoury, not sweet.
STEP 10: MADEIRA SAUCE — GLOSS & BALANCE
Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter to gloss the sauce. Check it against the sweetness of the roasted vegetables and add the sherry vinegar a few drops at a time until bright and balanced; season. This is the single change that answers the judges' note that the sauce ran too sweet.
STEP 11: PLATE
Sweep the mushroom and black garlic purée across warm plates. Add a quenelle of buttery mash and the roasted onion and carrots. Slice or set the rested chicken, crown it with the crisp black pudding, and stand the shard of crispy chicken skin on top. Spoon the rebalanced Madeira sauce around the plate — not over the crispy skin — and serve at once.
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