Tuesday, June 10, 2008

La Crème de la Crème

Wow! I have been busy. I have barely had time to throw food at my kids let alone create something interesting. And blog about it? Forget it! Not when you feel this under water!!!!! Now happily I have gotten a couple of things out the door to my reps, made some calls and the new designs are at the printer so I can rest take a VERY quick breather before starting to get sample packets for another rep group and trying to market some more.

So let me take you back a few weeks. I hadn't left for New York yet and had time to visit all of your blogs but not really time to cook or eat and I came across something on Jaime's site that made my ears perk up. Garlic Cream Chicken and Rice. Excuse me? Did you say garlic? Did you say cream? These are two things I cannot resist hearing. Pour cream into any sauce or soup and it becomes a rich heavenly dish that never fails to impress. But then I had things to do and SOMEPLACE to go!

Finally a week or so ago I decided I had to make something more interesting than salad, chips, sandwiches or Mac and Cheese for dinner. So I went back to Jaime's blog. But of course I didn't quite follow her directions. I was in a hurry, glanced at her ingredients and came up with this because I had a lemon sitting there staring at me and fresh asparagus too. Asparagus just seems to say "lemon". And something about Dijon and cream is just so delightful and I hadn't done Dijon chicken in a while. Note that this particular recipe does not have too too much of the French mustard so it is a subtle flavor. If you want it to taste more like Dijon chicken, add another tablespoon or two to the sauce.

Garlic Cream Chicken with a touch of Dijon

Source: Adapted from Jaime's Burnt Toast, which she adapted from Elizabeth's Cooking Experiments, which she adapted from www.adamandmonika.com
how's that for a string?

6-8 cloves garlic finely chopped
4 boneless chicken cutlets (or a number of chicken tenders)
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbls. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup heavy cream

salt & pepper to taste


Season chicken liberally with salt & pepper. Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté chicken until nicely browned on each side and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add garlic to the pan at medium heat, and sauté until soft and beginning to color. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add stock and bring to a boil. Add lemon juice and dijon until incorporated.

Mix the cold cream and flour in a dish until well blended and flour is dissolved. Add the cream to the pan and cook until lightly boiling and sauce begins to thicken. Return chicken to pan and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice or pasta.

Ideally you should garnish this with some parsley as Jaime did but I didn't have any and was in a hurry. Also note that all measurement for me are approximate. I just start throwing things in on this kind of dish and pay very little attention to how much I use. I will try to be better about it for you in the future.

Bon Appétit!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can throw anything at me made of garlic and cream and I will clean my plate before you can say 'cheeese'. :-) In Hong Kong, homecooks like to make a creamy sauce like this, with corn and chunks of chicken in it and serve it over rice. I bet you would like that too!

Don't work so hard. Relax! :-)

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

WOW. This post was insanely delicious!

That Girl said...

It doesn't matter how many times I see this, I always want to lick the screen.

AMI said...

that looks delish..!
i tagged you! will you play? its okay if you don't!!

Laura in Paris said...

Delicious! It's asparagus seson in Paris and I have them even for breakfast!

Nicole said...

Zen- I am the same way. Garlic and cream can be in anything. I will relax a little more after I get these things out. I have deadlines or money may be lost!

MamaGeek- Thank you!

Kate- I know!

Lisa- Thanks for the tag!

Laura- Isn't asparagus nice right now. Such a lovely accompaniment to a meal

Susan @ SGCC said...

I'm with you - anything with garlic and cream gets my attention. This looks to die for! Of course, I would probably be bad and serve this over pasta. ;)

Proud Italian Cook said...

I would have to say,put that on top of some thin spaghetti and I would be all ga ga!!!!

Anonymous said...

this is so funny! I was just talking to my mother a few days ago as to how i need to my pollo en crema; essentially what you have here! Wow.
My recipe has mushrooms in it though. I love yours b/c of all the garlic!

Nice!

Jaime said...

I keep meaning to make this again, it was so good! Thanks for the reminder. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

Anonymous said...

This looks absolutely perfect! We're big fan of everything on your dish here.

xoxox Amy

RecipeGirl said...

Yummy! I love a dijon creamy sort of sauce. Though not good for my diet right now!!

Nicole said...

Sticky- I love this dish over orzo or another small pasta too.

Proud Italian- yes that would be good!

Bren- Oh yes mushrooms! I often put them in my cream sauces. Pure heaven.

Jaime- Thanks for the suggestion. It was so yummy!

Amy- Thank you!!

Lori- I hear you! I was going down and now .... I need to get back on track!

Betty Carlson said...

Chicken with cream sauce is one of our standby meals -- so much so, I get a little tired of it. I vary it with mustard, but have never thought of garlic. Thanks for the idea, even if you just strung it along!

Jared said...

Looks great. I love chicken with a creamy sauce.

Nicole said...

Betty- You should throw in some garlic. I put garlic in almost everything. I may be stinky but my heart will always be strong!

Jared- It IS the best way to eat chicken I think.

Anonymous said...

This is the kind of dish I love :)

Nicole said...

Maryann- Welcome!! Isn't everything amazing with cream???