sautéed chicken breasts with tarragon

January 13, 2012

I recently received this cookbook below from my in-laws.  It’s a huge book and some of the recipes are a bit daunting to this little cooking mama, but this is the year that I vowed to try new and challenging things, so I opened the book, found a recipe that looked yummy and went for it.

I have this yellow pig in my house so I thought it would be cute to pose him alongside the cookbook  

This recipe was scary to me because there wasn’t a picture to look at so I had no idea what the finished product was suppose to look like.  EEEK!   


There are a lot of steps in this recipe so I tried to break them up by bullet points to make it easier to move from step to step.  Let me know if it helps you.  
Note:  This is a recipe that requires the chicken to be marinated in the spices.  If you work then you will want to get your chicken the day before and marinate it in the morning before work, so it will be ready to cook up when you get home.  

I am so glad that I got out of my comfort zone and tried this recipe as it was sensational and a huge hit with the family (rated a 10).  The curry brings a lot of flavor to the chicken and the tarragon butter sauce blends beautifully with that flavor. 

I adapted this recipe to suit my family and the changes are highlighted below in green.

Sautéed chicken breasts with tarragon:

Recipe from Thomas Keller’s ad hoc at home
Serves 6 (my adaption serves 4 with leftovers 2 adults, 11 year old and 7 year old)

• 1 teaspoons sweet paprika - I used 2 teaspoons
• 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder - I used 2 teaspoons
• 6 large (about 6 ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thick – I purchased 2 breasts that were each sliced in half to create 4 pieces and then had them pounded by my butcher.  I had 4 pounded breasts total. 
• canola oil - feel free to you use whatever oil you use to sauté meats
• kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped tarragon, plus 1 tablespoon tarragon leaves - for presentation purposes
• freshly ground black pepper – optional

If your store does not have a butcher to pound your chicken then you will need to pound it.  Lay 2 pieces of chicken on a large piece of plastic wrap, cover with a second piece of plastic wrap, and, using a meat pounder, pound to about 1/4 inch thick.  Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken.

Mix together the paprika and curry in a large shallow bowl.  I used 2 teaspoons of each as I wanted to fully coat my chicken breasts on both sides and 1 teaspoon of each was not enough.  

 Whisk together the 2 spices.

Dip the chicken breasts in the seasoning and make sure to coat both sides.  Put the seasoned chicken in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Sorry I did not have a photo of the chicken breasts being dipped, but I did not want to touch my camera with raw chicken on my fingers, yuck!

I would get all of your ingredients prepped at this point because once your chicken is cooked and in the oven warming it’s a fast moving process getting the sauce together.  

• Get out your 3 tablespoons butter, your pepper grinder & canola oil
• mince up your shallot
• pour your wine and chicken stock into individual measuring cups 
• wash and chop up your tarragon  

Tarragon is easy to prepare, just peel the leaves from the stem and then chop up the leaves.  Sorry about the lame out of focus photo, but I have friends who did not know how to prepare Tarragon and this is the only photo I took.  

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and set a cooling rack over a baking sheet.

Heat some canola oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and get out your chicken.  
The recipe called for sprinkling salt on each breast before sautéing but I opted out of that step.  I didn’t think with all of the wonderful spices that I would need any additional salt.  
 Sorry again for the raw chicken photo folks.

 As you can see, my chicken was a bit more than 1/4 inch thick.  I didn’t have my normal butcher that day

• Working in batches, without crowding, add the chicken to the pan, presentation (smooth) side down, and cook, adjusting the heat if necessary, until the bottom is golden brown.  
• Turn over and cook the other side till the chicken is cooked through and golden brown. 

  

The original recipe said that each breast should cook for a minute or two on each side but that was not happening with my breasts as they were thicker.  I always make sure my chicken is cooked through, as there is nothing grosser to me than undercooked chicken.  

Tip:  To speed up the cooking time when sautéing or grilling a meat, place a lid over the meat.  

Your chicken should look like the below picture when it’s done.

• Transfer the cooked chicken to the rack and keep warm in the oven.  Add more oil to the pan as needed as you cook the remaining chicken. 
• You will be using the same pan to make the sauce after all of your chicken is cooked.  Pour any remaining oil from the pan and wipe out any burned bits.  
• Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat.  
• Add the minced shallot to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 30 seconds, swirling the pan to coat the shallot with the butter.
• Pour in the wine, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until the wine has reduced by half, about 1 minute.  
• Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and cook until slightly reduced and thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. 
• Stir in the chopped tarragon, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and any juices that have accumulated on the baking sheet and swirl to melt the butter or use a wooden spoon to mix butter in.  Season to taste with salt and pepper (I opted out of this as the chicken was perfect just the way it was). 

Arrange the chicken on a platter, pour the sauce over it, and garnish with the tarragon leaves.

  

Serve this up over some basmati rice and a vegetable of choice (we had broccolini). 

I didn’t pour all of the sauce over the chicken.  I reserved some in a small bowl so my family could add more to their dish while eating and also I wanted some for the leftovers.
Zoe had this the next day for lunch and raved about it!
If your new to tarragon, try it. It’s an amazing but not overpowering herb.  I was actually eating the presentation leaves after dinner.  They were a bit on the minty side and cleansed my palate.

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{ 9 comments… add one }

• 

  Chung-Ah @ Damn Delicious January 13, 2012 at 7:11 pm

  This chicken looks lovely. I haven’t had a chance to cook with a lot of tarragon but I will be using it more often, starting with this recipe

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    Jacquelyn January 14, 2012 at 2:14 am

    Hi Chung-Ah! I hadn’t used tarragon before but am happy I finally tried it as it’s such a wonderful herb. Let me know how you enjoy the recipe when you make it

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  Pam January 13, 2012 at 7:50 pm

  I don’t use tarragon enough… this dish looks delicious!

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    Jacquelyn January 14, 2012 at 1:33 am

    Hi Pam! I hate to admit it, but this was my first time using tarragon. I really enjoyed it’s flavor and I plan on looking for other recipes that make use of it.

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  Danielle Cloutier-Simons January 13, 2012 at 11:53 pm

  I made this for dinner tonight and it is by far my favorite chicken ever!!! Great recipe

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    Jacquelyn January 14, 2012 at 2:12 am

    Wow Danielle, that’s the best compliment ever! This dish was one of our favorites as well. I love hearing how people like the dishes and how they turn out, so thanks Danielle

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  Mary January 14, 2012 at 1:03 am

  This sounds wonderful. I really love tarragon and am tempted by any dish that uses it. You asked about starting a meme. I can only tell you what I did. That might not might not be the way to go. I planned originally to do the 50 Women by myself, but decided to invite other to join me in a post. They trickled in. I maintain a list of participants and try to let the gals know via email who is doing what. Ad I said, there are probably many other and better ways to do this, but it worked for me. I hope you have a great weekend. Blessings…Mary

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    Jacquelyn January 14, 2012 at 1:31 am

    Thanks for the info Mary. I think I might just dedicate one day a week or month to a local chef or restaurant and invite people to do that same as time goes on. I think it would be a great way for people to get to know their local chefs. I mean we are all trying to use local ingredients when we cook so what better way to showcase those ingredients by creating local recipes.

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  Marina {Yummy Mummy) January 16, 2012 at 6:21 am

  I always forget to use tarragon! It’s so yummy though – thanks for the reminder!

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