Dillkött

Ingredients

• 1½ lbchickenusually breast fillet, seasoned and seared or cut into pieces
• ¾ cupcreamfor the sauce
• 1¼ cupschicken brothbase of the sauce
• 1 bunchdillfresh, chopped; part into the sauce, the rest for garnish
• 3 tbspbutterfor searing and the roux
• 2 tbspflourto thicken the sauce
• 1onionfinely diced
• 2 clovesgarlicminced
• 2 tbspoilfor searing, e.g. rapeseed or olive oil
• 1 tbspMustardstirred into the sauce
• 1 tbsplemon juiceto finish the sauce
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tsppepperblack or white
• ½ cupwhite winedry, for the sauce (optional)
• ¼ cupsour creamstirred in off the heat at the end (optional)
• vinegarfor the classic sweet-sour dill sauce (optional)
• sugarwith the vinegar to season (optional)
• 1¾ lbpotatoesboiled or mashed, as a side (optional)
• ¼ cuplingonberry jamfor serving (optional)

Method

1. Season the chickenSeason the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Sear until goldenHeat the oil and some of the butter in a pot and sear the chicken over medium-high heat until golden brown; it doesn't need to be cooked through yet, as it finishes in the sauce. Lift it out and set it aside.
3. Soften onion and garlicAdd the remaining butter to the same pot, soften the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and cook it briefly.
4. Cook the rouxDust the flour over the onion and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring constantly, without letting it take on colour.
5. Add the brothGradually stir in the chicken broth and bring the sauce to a boil, keeping it smooth and free of lumps.
6. Stir in cream, mustard and dillStir in the cream, the mustard and part of the chopped dill, then let the sauce simmer gently until it thickens slightly.
7. Let the chicken cook throughReturn the chicken to the sauce, cover and let it cook over low heat until it is no longer pink in the centre; from now on, keep the sauce below a rolling boil.
8. Season and serveSeason the sauce with lemon juice, salt and pepper, scatter the remaining dill over the top and serve with boiled or mashed potatoes, if you like.

Tips and variations

For the classic Swedish style, simmer the meat in water with onion, peppercorns and dill stems; make the sauce from a roux and the cooking liquid without cream, and season it sweet-sour with vinegar and sugar. Serve with boiled potatoes, pickled cucumber and a salad. Bone-in, skin-on chicken legs or thighs turn it into a braise: simmer them in the broth for 25–30 minutes. A lamb version swaps the chicken for lamb and cooks it in a steam oven with bay leaf and dill cream. Either of these additions gives the sauce a fresher edge: 100 ml dry white wine, added after softening the onion and garlic and left to reduce before you dust in the flour, or 60 ml sour cream, stirred in off the heat. For serving, a little lingonberry jam next to the potatoes goes well.