Creamy Tarragon Chicken

I’m the kind of girl who gets bored easily with food. I need variety in my meals but I usually get stuck preparing chicken the same way. I was so impressed with what I learned to cook this weekend at the Sur La Table “Passport to Paris” cooking class. Aside from being super excited that I was going to learn how to create an entire classic French menu, tarragon was the main ingredient. I actually don’t think I had ever tasted tarragon before Saturday so good thing I thought it was tasty! It’s an easy way to change up your basic chicken dinner (winner,winner) so I really want to share the recipe with all of you!

Here’s the Taragon Chicken recipe

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 table spoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium minced shallot
1 large minced garlic clove
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

Before I begin to mince, chop, or separate my ingredients the first thing I do is preheat the oven. For this recipe, preheat the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit.

Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper, and dried tarragon. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, pour the vegetable oil, and wait a few minutes until it gets very hot. You’ll know when it’s ready when it starts looking a little shiny and runs very easily across the pan. Grab a pair of tongs and place the chicken on the skillet. Be careful because super hot specks of oil will start flying out of the pan when you do this!  All you’re doing here is searing the chicken so make sure that both sides of the chicken are very golden before you remove it. Once golden, turn off the heat and place the chicken on a baking rack to be transferred to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.

While the chicken is baking in the oven you’ll be preparing the creamy and delicious sauce. Using the same skillet that the chicken was seared in, add in the butter and melt over medium heat. Add all the good stuff (garlic and shallot) and saute until soft. Using a wooden spoon, deglaze the pan by pouring in the wine and keep it on the stove until it is reduced by about half of what you started with.

The chicken should be ready by now. Remove from the oven and place in a plate. I like to cover the chicken with aluminum foil so that the heat isn’t lost while I finish up with the sauce.

Add the broth, cream, mustard, and fresh tarragon to the reduced mixture. Continue to deglaze the pan by scraping it.  Continue to cook at a simmer until the sauce begins to thicken to your preference. Once the consistency is just the way you like it season with the salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Place the chicken on a cutting board and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces, arrange on individual plates, and spoon the sauce over it.

Voilà, now you have some tasty tarragon chicken for your taste buds! Enjoy!

 

Katrina