Borrowed Recipes: Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Whole-Grain Mustard Sauce

This deliciously saucy recipe comes from a Williams-Sonoma recipe book simply titled Sauce.  Whole grain mustard is the featured ingredient, which is great because it's one healthy condiment. But nutrition pretty much goes out the window when we add three quarters of a cup of heavy cream to the pan. Still, when paired with steamed green beans and a small scoop of mashed potatoes, this turns into a pretty well-balanced meal (at least that what I tell myself anyway.)

We make the sauce after cooking the chicken by deglazing the pan with a little white wine, making sure to scrape up and mix in the yummy brown bits left over by the meat.

William-Sonoma's Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Whole Grain Mustard Sauce

Serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (preferably organic)

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons olive oil

salt & pepper

For the sauce

1 shallot, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

salt & pepper

Place a large baking dish in the oven and preheat to 65C (150F.) We''ll be using it to keep the chicken warm while we make the sauce.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Use a meat pounder to lightly pound the breasts to an even thickness of around a 1/2 inch. (Or, if you don't have a proper meat pounder, as in my case, use something flat and heavy. Be creative. I ended up using our stone mortal as a pounder. It did the job!) Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter with the oil. When the foam begins to subside, add the chicken breasts and cook, being careful not to crowd the pan (do them in batches if you need to), until just beginning to brown, roughly 2 minutes. (If the chicken is thicker than 1/2 an inch it will obviously take longer to brown.) Turn the chicken over and cook, around 2-2 1/2 minutes, until firm. With a sharp knife, cut a small slit in the middle of the thickest piece and make sure there is no sign of pinkness. Transfer the chicken breasts to the baking dish in the oven.

Now on to the sauce!

Return the pan to medium-low heat and add the shallot. Cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about a minute. Add the wine and raise the heat to medium-high. Simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up the tasty bits from both the bottom and sides of the pan. Keep stirring until the wine has reduced to about 2 tablespoons. This should take around 3 minutes. Stir in the cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 1-2 minutes. 

Turn off the heat (if using an electric stove, remove from the element) and whisk in the mustard until smooth. Take the chicken breasts out of the oven and place one on each plate. Top with a couple spoonfuls of the sauce and serve at once.

Serve with green beans and mash or a simple spinach salad.

Bon appétit!

Tip: I always have extra sauce leftover which makes a great salad dressing for lunch the following day. Just toss it with arugula, grilled chicken slices, and some sauteed onion. It's deliciously quick.