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Mary Berry Normandy Chicken Recipe

Mary Berry Normandy Chicken Recipe

Mary Berry's Normandy chicken is a classic French braise with apple, cider, cream, and Calvados — deeply fragrant and completely wonderful.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4 Portions
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British
Calories: 450
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • Normandy Chicken:
  • 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 40 g unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves crushed
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 3 Cox or Braeburn apples peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each
  • 3 tbsp Calvados or apple brandy
  • 300 ml good quality dry cider
  • 200 ml chicken stock
  • 200 ml double cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and white pepper
  • To Finish:
  • 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped
  • A few extra apple wedges fried in butter optional garnish

Method
 

  1. Season chicken generously. Brown skin-side down in hot oil 5–6 minutes without moving. Turn — 2 minutes. Remove.
  2. Pour off most fat — leave 1 tbsp. Add butter over medium heat. Cook onion 8 minutes. Add garlic and thyme — 2 minutes.
  3. Add Calvados — flame if desired or bubble 2 minutes. Add apple wedges and cider — simmer briskly 3–4 minutes.
  4. Add stock, cream, mustard, and bay leaf. Season generously. Stir.
  5. Return chicken skin-side up. Cover partially. Cook over lowest heat or in 160°C oven 35–40 minutes until completely tender.
  6. Remove bay leaf. Taste and season assertively. Scatter parsley. Serve with optional golden apple garnish.

Notes

Use Cox or Braeburn not Bramleys — eating apples hold their shape as soft wedges.
Use genuinely dry cider — sweet cider makes the sauce too sweet and cloying.
Calvados flaming is optional but atmospheric — bubbling achieves the same result.
Season assertively — cream and apple sweetness needs confident seasoning to balance.
Make the day before — the flavours deepen and integrate significantly overnight.
Freeze for up to 2 months.
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