Recipe Summary:
  • Chicken
Author's Notes: This was Chef Edna Lewis’s favorite way to serve chicken breast and she preferred to serve it alongside wild rice and a creamy mushroom sauce. We recently prepared this dish as part of our 'Weekends at LeRoux' cooking series at our Portland store and we can attest this our new favorite way to prepare chicken breasts as well.

Sautéed Breasts of Chicken with Garnish of Mushrooms Print Recipe

Serves 4 • Ready in 1hr 45min

Ingredients:

  • 4 Chicken Breasts, split skinned and boned
  • 1/2 Cup Flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 1 Stick Butter
  • 1 Pint Heavy Cream
  • 3 Tbsp. Sweet Sherry
  • 3 Tsp. Fresh Tarragon, finely chopped
  • Nutmeg
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/2 Lb. Mushrooms
  • 1/4 Lemon
  • Finely Chopped Parsley

Preparation:

  1. Wipe the chicken breasts with a damp cloth. Shape them with your hands, then dip them in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
  2. Place the floured pieces on a platter or sheet of waxed paper, and let them rest an hour or so let the flour set well on the flesh.
  3. To cook, heat a 3.5qt Braiser, add a half stick of butter, as the peak of the foaming stage begins to subside, add the chicken breasts, plump side down. Cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes and turn. Sauté 3 minutes on the flat side. Dot with thin pats of butter and place braiser and contents in a 325-degree oven for 15 minutes.
  4. Add the mushrooms to the braiser, squeezing more lemon juice over the contents. If you are serving the chicken breasts without the cream sauce, sprinkle over some finely cut parsley.
  5. To prepare the cream sauce, pour the heavy cream into a wide frying pan, place the braiser over medium heat and allow the cream to boil rapidly until it is reduced to half or less (don’t worry, it will not curdle). Add any juices that have collected at the bottom of the braiser. Stir in the sherry, the fresh tarragon cut fine, salt, pepper, and a grating of nutmeg. Mix well and pour over the chicken.
  6. Add 3 tablespoons to butter to the skillets and as the peak of the foaming stage begins, add the mushrooms in a single layer. Sauté the mushrooms over high heat, shaking the pan back and forth as they cook, which will take about 4 to 5 minutes.
  7. When the mushrooms are done, squeeze the lemon juice over them, add the salt, freshly ground pepper, and a sprinkling of parsley.