Cooking: Chicken with Tarragon Cream

One of the challenges I set out for myself this New Year is to cook at home more. I have a pretty decent amount of go to dishes that I can cook, but I want to push myself to expand my repertoire. I want to try to cook twenty-five new dishes this year. Hopefully, I will learn new techniques and be able to save some money by eating at home more often.

The first new recipe I cooked this year: Chicken with Tarragon Cream. I got the recipe from a bargain book called Chicken. Yes, it’s all about chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Light Olive Oil
• 4 Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 3 Shallots, finely chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
• 1 1/2 Cups Fresh Mushrooms (Sliced)
• 2/3-Cup Dry White Wine
• 1 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/4 Cup Fresh Tarragon

Well, those are supposed to be the ingredients. Winn Dixie didn’t have any fresh tarragon nor did I, so I went with dried tarragon. Also, I used extra-virgin olive oil due to that was what I had. Due to buying Tyson, I had three large breasts that I halved so I really had half a dozen breasts. Except that one of the halves was almost all fat, so I just discarded it before I put it around my waistline.

I started cooking the chicken in olive oil until they became golden brown. Then, I turned down the heat and cooked them until they internal temperature was around 140. Putting the chicken aside, I cooked the shallots and garlic making sure I didn’t brown the either. I then added the mushrooms and basically stir-fried them for about 3-4 minutes. I put the chicken back in and added the wine. I let that cook until most, but not all, of the wine evaporated. I finally add the cream, the tarragon, and salt and pepper. I let that cook for a while until the cream thickened some.

Meanwhile, I baked some asparagus (with a little olive oil and Cajun seasoning). I placed the chicken and the asparagus on the plate and spooned sauce over both.

Due to the time, I’m not sure I would cook this mid week again. Also, due to the cream, it’s heavy on the calories. This could be a dish reserved for dinner parties or just a nice stay at home weekend meal.