Poulet a' la Creme

One of my favorite cookbook authors is Jacque Pepin and I thoroughly enjoy his cooking program as well. His latest book, "Heart and Soul In The Kitchen" is an excellent book published in 2015. Jacque's newest program goes right along with this book too. The book is beautifully done with not only beautiful photographs of the food but Jacque also shares some of his artwork. It makes for a most interesting and unusual book.

 

I have found this book absolutely charming and had no idea he was quite the artist.

I had watched him prepare this dish on his program and knew I just had to make it. What's not to like about butter, mushrooms, wine and of course, cream. There are so many different ways to prepare chicken in a cream sauce but I thought this one to be particularly outstanding.

Poulet a la Crème

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), skin removed (about 2 1/2 pounds skinned)
8 mushrooms (about 6 ounces), washed and sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh tarragon (optional)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chicken thighs to the pan in one layer and brown over high heat for about 2 1/2 minutes on each side.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and sprinkle on the flour. Turn the chicken pieces with tongs so the flour is dispersed evenly. Stir in the wine and water and mix well Bring to a boil and add the salt and pepper. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook gently for 25 minutes.

Add the cream, bring to a boil, and boil, uncovered, for about 1 minute.

Serve sprinkled with the chopped tarragon, if desired.
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Instead of using chicken thighs I chose to use chicken breast tenders and they were delicious. A perfect choice for just my husband and myself since neither of us care for dark meat. I also used baby Portobello's too since I think they add more flavor. Shocking for me but I had no white wine lurking in my fridge but did have a French Rose' I had been wanting to try. It put this dish over the top and from now on I will always use that same Rose', delish and it went well for drinking with this dish also.

It also gave me the opportunity to use a piece from the Mauviel copper cookware set that my husband gave me for Christmas. Which has nothing to do with anything, of course, but I wanted to share my new cookware pieces. I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking with my new toys.

This was a simple but yet elegant dish and I will make it again and again. I do in fact grow tarragon in my garden and it would have been a wonderful addition to this dish but unfortunately mine has died back because of the cold weather. However, it is showing signs of coming back up so the next time I prepare this dish I will definitely use my tarragon. I dearly love the licorice taste of tarragon.

I hope you will try this dish and enjoy it. You won't be disappointed.

I'm sharing my post for Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm. You can click HERE to see other wonderful recipes shared.