Chicken Breasts with Tarragon

Here is yet another chicken recipe. Yes, I do cook lots of chicken! This is rich, and I love tarragon! I received this recipe from a woman I rode the bus with years ago, and it's a real winner.

Chicken Breast with Tarragon

3 whole chicken breasts, boned and halved

Salt and freshly-ground pepper

¼ cup flour

¼ cup butter

1 tablespoon chopped shallots or onion

¼ cup dry with wine

1 teaspoon freshly-chopped tarragon, or ½ teaspoon dried

¼ cup chicken broth

¼ cup heavy cream

Skin breasts; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge with flour; reserve remaining flour.

In large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons butter. Brown chicken on both sides; transfer to a heated platter. Add shallots to skillet and sauté briefly. Add the wine.

Cook liquid over high heat until nearly evaporated, while scraping loose all the brown particles.

Add reserved flour, and stir to make a thick paste. Sprinkle with tarragon, and stir in chicken broth.

Put chicken back in pan; cover and cook until tender – about 25 minutes. Transfer to heated platter and keep warm.

Add the remaining butter and the cream. Heat, stirring, and pour over chicken to serve.

DONNA’S NOTES: I use chicken thighs for this, as usual, and they certainly don’t need 25 minutes of cooking! If I use bone-in, skin-on thighs, they would require more time. I brown the chicken for 5 minutes on each sided, then take them out of the skillet. I typically don’t use wine, so I use chicken broth instead. You know by now that I don’t cook anything over high heat; it’s not needed here, either. After I put the chicken back into the pan, I may cook it for 5 or 8 minutes more, depending on my sense of how well-done the pieces are. We do no like our chicken overdone! You can certainly cut the fat in this recipe. I’ll try it with olive oil in place of much of the butter, and I know that half and half works well in place of cream.

In my experience, this recipe doesn’t make enough sauce for six chicken breast halves. I’m usually only cooking two to four thighs, so it’s plenty for that. However, if you’re fixing six pieces, I’d at least double the recipe.