You don’t have to be Napoleon to enjoy Chicken Marengo!

My husband and I are keen followers of French history, especially the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. While watching a lecture series on TV, we learned that Chicken Marengo was created to celebrate Napoleon’s victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo, Italy on June 14, 1800. The story goes that Napoleon’s personal chef, Durand, foraged for special ingredients to create a special dish to celebrate the victory. Napoleon liked the dish so much that he requested it to celebrate future victories. Although the original recipe reportedly featured tomatoes, garlic, and onion, people later added mushrooms, wine, eggs, and shrimp.

Right from the start, I could see that this dish was relatively easy to make and could classify as ‘comfort food’, however I decided to do some research to see how I could push the boundaries a little. I decided to follow Julia Child’s lead and add whole mushrooms to the dish and to use fresh chopped tomatoes (although canned stewed tomatoes would be acceptable). I also garnished the dish with glazed onions, as per the recipe I learned at the Paris Cordon Bleu school in 2012. I further topped the dish with some orange zest and stopped short of garnishing with an egg. I believe these additions (although small) add a lot more depth and interest to the dish!

The important thing is to not rush and to allow the flavors from each step to develop before going onto the next stage. Before continuing to the recipe, I thought I would share some entertaining scenes from Julia Child’s episode of Chicken Marengo on the French Chef in 1966.

Julia used an 18-inch sword to cut up the chicken!

After introducing the dish, Julia surprised the audience by pulling out an 18-inch sword to cut up a whole chicken in reference to Napoleon’s battle victory! Now that is dedication!

She also added a splash of cognac to the dish and dramatically recoiled from the flame! (I decided to emit that step from my dish)!

Aside from these more entertaining scenes, Julia added some whole fluted mushrooms to the recipe by first browning them separately in some butter, then later adding them to the dish.

Here are the following steps to create Chicken Marengo (detailed recipe is found at the end of the post):

Brown both sides of chicken thighs in olive oil

First dust each side with flour, then fry each side until skin turns golden brown (about 3-4 minutes each side). Drain each piece on kitchen paper.

Chop tomatoes into fine pieces

First, remove core from very top of the tomato and cut a small X on the bottom. Place in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes until the skin loosens, remove with a slotted spoon, then remove the skin (see first image). Slice each tomato in half and remove pith and seeds; chop finely. Alternatively, you could use a 14-ounce can of stewed tomatoes.

Dice onion, garlic, and mushrooms

Slice mushrooms thinly, then finely dice the onion half and garlic. ‘Sweat’ in olive oil over medium heat until the veggies become translucent. Add white wine and let reduce for several minutes.

After the wine has reduced (sauce no longer has an acidic taste), add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste; let cook for several minutes.

Add the chicken pieces; garnish with whole mushrooms, glazed pearl onions, and parsley

Add the browned chicken pieces to the tomato mixture, cover and let cook for about ten minutes. Brown the whole mushrooms in a bit of butter and olive oil, periodically shaking the pan for even browning.

Remove the skins from the pearl onions. Brown in a little butter; after the butter reduces, add water and sugar to the onions. Continue shaking the pan as the water/sugar evaporates; the onions will gradually turn soft and shiny.

Add mushrooms, glazed onions, and olives (if using) to the pan with the chicken and continue to cook for a few more minutes; garnish with chopped parsley and a little orange zest.