Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Chicken Cutlets with Tarragon Mushroom Sauce


I was drawn to this recipe because of the tarragon sauce. Years ago I made a wonderful veal dish from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking with a brown tarragon sauce and fell in love with the sauce. I’ll make it for you sometime. It’s really quite simple for a Julia recipe and also impressive because of the depth of flavor of the brown sauce flavored with the fresh tarragon.


This recipe is also quite simple and uses fresh tarragon. I’ve made a few changes to make it even simpler and also a bit quicker. I omitted the mirepoix ingredients and the garlic when I reduced the chicken stock and substituted chicken cutlets to save the time of cutting the breasts in half to make cutlets. You can find the original recipe on the link below.

This is a pretty dish and goes well with a green vegetable and, if you’re in the mood, perhaps some mashed potatoes to go with the sauce.


Chicken Cutlets with Tarragon Mushroom Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 4

2 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 bay leaf
8 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets, about 3 ounces each
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons butter, divided
1 cup quartered button mushrooms
1/2 cup frozen pearl onions (I used Birds Eye)
1 tablespoon cold water
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon + more for garnish

Place chicken stock and bay leaf in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook 6 minutes or until reduced to 1 1/4 cups. Remove bay leaf with a slotted spoon and discard. Set stock aside.

Sprinkle chicken cutlets evenly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish and dredge chicken in flour. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter to pan; swirl until butter melts. Add 4 cutlets to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon butter, and 4 cutlets.

Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onions, cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add stock mixture, bring to a boil, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Combine 1 tablespoon cold water with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir cornstarch mixture into stock mixture. Cook the sauce 1 minute or until it thickens.  Stir in a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper and the fresh tarragon. Spoon the sauce over chicken and remove to a platter. Garnish with a sprig of tarragon and serve right away.



This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes.   


39 comments:

  1. Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs. Your dish looks fantastic!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Fresh tarragon is a hard thing to come by in my neck of the woods. Perhaps I can try chives or? These cutlets look divine.

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  3. I just saw your recipe and am going to use it partly for the chicken breasts I just bought. I do not have the same ingredients as you have but most of them plus a variety of other veggies, and I really like tarragon. I’ll use your recipe as an idea to make my chicken tomorrow (today we still have a lot of lentil soup) and if it turns out OK I’ll show it on a next post. Although writing recipes is hard for me – I’m not good at it and I do not have an excellent photographer as you have to showcase your beautiful dishes.

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  4. Sam, I think the bottled pearl onions are for Gibson's made with gin. I think the shallots are the best bet. Surprised you could not find the frozen pearl onions. In produce, I often find pearl onions, but you have to peel them. What a job. I do think this is a wonderful recipe.

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    1. Susan, the reason I thought they might work is that they were in with the vegetables, not where olives and drink condiments are. Now you've got my curiosity up. I will have to look at them again.
      Sam

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  5. We have a happy bush of tarrago. It's one of my favorite herbs. I love the simplicity fof this dish yet it's so fancy looking. Oh, I'll be making this one! Funny thing is, recently defrosted a bag of scallops...which turned out to be a bag of frozen pearl onions! Now, I know what to make with them!

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  6. Looks like a beautiful chicken dish Sam! Oh and, I'd like mine with mashed potatoes please:@)

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  7. You are good..unsalted stock
    I salt mine:)I am bad...

    I love this dish..already..the pearl onions..mushrooms:)
    Thank you!

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  8. Sam, This is my wife's kind of entree... She loves tarragon and she'd get her ration of mushrooms and onions too! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  9. my husband would love this! I have got to make it for him soon- like this week. Love your tarragon addition

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  10. This sounds delicious. I'll settle for it until you share the veal recipe!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  11. P.S. I find frozen pearl onions in my regular grocery store and at Whole Foods. What a time saver!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  12. I love tarragon. This recipe looks scrumptious. One of those dishes for a celebratory meal.

    Thank you for sharing ~ FlowerLady

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  13. This chicken dish looks fantastic, Sam. Can't wait to try it too.

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  14. That sounds wonderful. I love tarragon. I find my frozen pearl onions by Birds Eye in the veggie section of the freezer at the grocery stores. The bottled ones can sometimes taste different, and could be cocktail onions.

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    1. Penny, I can usually find frozen pearl onions too, but this year Publix had only the ones in sauce. I even got the frozen foods manager involved. I "think" the bottled ones I saw at Fresh Market were in the vegetable section, but now you've peaked my curiosity and I'm going to check again.
      Sam

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  15. Oh, what a perfect recipe. I love tarragon and so few people realize its perfection. Love that you chose to use cutlets. Very kitchen savvy! We do sell fresh-packaged pearl onions in my dept. at Food Lion. But we are a high-volume store. As usual, great recipe and great photos.... (But I think in Photo #2 you mean "tarragon" and not "tarraton.")

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    1. Thank you Kitchen Bounty for pointing out the spelling error on the second photo. I really appreciate it and have quickly fixed it. Sometimes we miss the most obvious :)
      Sam

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  16. I love tarragon. It seems like a very neglected herb but adds such a fun unique flavor. This chicken looks just amazing, Your photos are so enticing!!

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  17. I love tarragon, it's such an unappreciated herb yet has such distinctive flavor. Your chicken looks amazing Sam. Looks simple enough for everyday but elegant enough for a special occasion.

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  18. I tried a delicious tarragon sauce in a restaurant in Chicago over Christmas and I bet this is very similar. What a beautiful dish, Sam. I'm always looking for a new way to prepare chicken.

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  19. Hello Sam

    I adore tarragon and this sounds delicious and you have made it quite easy to follow. I also love your seafood salad in the previous post.

    Best wishes
    Helenx

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  20. Both David and I love chicken with tarragon sauce. It would be his meal of choice anytime. This looks delicious Sam.

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  21. Looks beautiful! I'm a big fan of tarragon and make a similar dish.

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  22. The sauce sounds delicious! What a beautiful way to dress up chicken cutlets and a meal that my hubby and I would both love. Thanks, Sam!

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  23. Tarragon Mushroom Sauce... how delicious! This sounds heavenly, Sam!

    xo

    Sheila

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  24. I need to pass this on to my sister since tarragon is her favorite herb. She will probably suggest I make it and invite her over.:)

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  25. Beautiful meal. I enjoy tarragon and have tried to grow it without much success, These type of dishes are simplistic but elegant. Very nice.

    Velva

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  26. This chicken looks delicious Sam, like the tarragon and the mushroom sauce...and the pictures are great...indeed reflect all the flavors of this dish.
    Have a wonderful weekend :D

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  27. Fabulous looking dish, Sam. We don't use tarragon nearly enough and it's wonderful with chicken. Such a pretty presentation...making my mouth water this early in the morning!
    Have a great weekend!

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  28. Beautiful photos Sam. Makes me want to reach right in and take a plate. And what a simple and delicious meal. I love working with cutlets, they cook up so tender. Usually I make Picatta. Thaks for another idea. Pinned

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  29. Dear Sam, There are so many spice flavors that I am learning to use that I did not grow up with. (better late than never) lol. Tarragon is one of them. The dish makes an elegant presentation and chicken cutlet is a favorite of mine. I seem to always gravitate to chicken.
    Blessings dear. for a beautiful weekend. Catherine xo

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  30. There's something about fresh tarragon, and that lovely intense, perfumed flavor. Between that and the mushrooms, this dish is jumping off the screen at me! Happy Sunday, Sam!

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  31. This sounds absolutely delightful Sam! I love tarragon-flavored recipes and since this is also adapted from Cooking Light, with your expertise and the magazine's, then I know it has to be a winner! Pinned!

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  32. Tarragon is one of my favorite spices, Sam, and I grow it in a pot every summer. I especially love it to season fish. This recipe looks fabulous and worthy of a dinner to serve for company! I'll definitely try this soon.

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  33. Hi Sam,
    Your serving of Chicken Cutlets with Tarragon and Mushroom Sauce looks like it is just sitting there waiting for me and it looks fabulous! I really want to try this recipe very soon!

    Thanks so much for helping us celebrate Three Years at Full Plate Thursday. Have a good week and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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