Less Expensive Valentine Meals with Class

[falvegas]

My neighbor asked me for an Inexpensive and Easy-To-Make recipe she could make for her Family on Valentines Day. Rather than throw a cookbook at her, I directed her to the Martha Stewart food site where there was a Preparation-Film for the following recipe [It’s a simple classic, and I attached the Video, following]

Sautéed Chicken in Tarragon-Mustard-Cream Sauce w/Asparagus
Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (6 ounces each)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh)
Directions
Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.
Pour wine into hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
Pour any accumulated chicken juices from plate into sauce. Right before serving, drizzle cream sauce over chicken.

Watch the Film [this is faster than fast food, and fairly inexpensive]
http://www.marthastewart.com/318298/sau ... pes|318298

Note: There are ways I'd could extend this dish with an Ice Cream Scoop of Chive Mashed Potatoes, or a Pappardelle Pasta w/Parsley-Butter etc.

[Pixie]

I have that recipe and use it all the time. She is going to love the sauce!!!!!

[falvegas]

Ya, it was the simplest I could think of at the time. They're a struggling family w/3 kids, both working, but well, y'all know what it's like these days to serve a family of 5 every month, especially at holidays.
So I didn't embellish the recipe with adornments.

[Fatherducque]

Nice! Would you suggest splitting the chicken breasts in half to reduce the thickness?

[falvegas]

Nice! Would you suggest splitting the chicken breasts in half to reduce the thickness?

Maybe: There's a zillion of them, remembering I was keeping it very simple for this neighbor of mine.

BUT I'd consider a couple of alternate approaches:
** Butterfly the Full Breasts and Stuff with Fontina Cheese and maybe Arugula or Spinach, and Saute or Bake.
** Pound out the Breasts and serve with a Lemon-Caper Sauce.
** Slice Breasts in Half and cook ‘Breaded’...Chicken Cutlets.
** Make a basic Chicken Paillard with pounded out Breasts
** HOWEVA, MY VERY BEST FAVORITE CHICKEN IS; Pound out the Breasts thin, Fill with Butter Parsley, Roll/Seal into a Ball, Bread them, and fry or bake them and you have CHICKEN KIEV…..On Wide Egg Noodles with a basic compound butter sauce this is great. Not for weight watchers.

Maybe ya had a CHICKEN PAILLARD in mind:

[StarryNightDave]

They call that a cream reduction sauce. You should cook the cream until it stops bubbling, and/or the bubbles get tiny (they will be large at first). You are boiling off the water and thickening the cream. Really, you should just whisk when the wine is added. That deglazes the pan and gets those flavorful bits off the pan. When you add the cream, most instructions I've seen say to just let it boil undisturbed.

In any event, it's a WONDERFUL sauce. Some recipes add a pat of butter at the very end. But I think that's overkill.

[falvegas]

They call that a cream reduction sauce. You should cook the cream until it stops bubbling, and/or the bubbles get tiny (they will be large at first). You are boiling off the water and thickening the cream. Really, you should just whisk when the wine is added. That deglazes the pan and gets those flavorful bits off the pan. When you add the cream, most instructions I've seen say to just let it boil undisturbed.

In any event, it's a WONDERFUL sauce. Some recipes add a pat of butter at the very end. But I think that's overkill.

Oh Ya, Sauces.
That is a topic unto itself.
Certainly one of the first functions one should master as much as possible, the Basic Sauces. Sauces 101.
Then one can go on from there with the Inventive and Artistic...but there are 'basic disciplines' one can not violate.