Chicken with Whole Grain Mustard Cream Sauce
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 4 chicken breasts about 8 ounces each
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- ½ tablespoon crushed red pepper more if you like it more spicy
- 3 tablespoons fresh picked thyme
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 3 cloves garlic
- olive oil extra virgin
To Finish
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 - 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard to taste
- 1 cup white wine
Instructions
For the Marinade
- Combine the coriander, red pepper, thyme, and sea salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Grate the garlic into the bowl and add three tablespoons of olive oil. Mix altogether.
- Add the chicken and toss with your hands to cover with the marinate.
- Add one tablespoon of thyme leaves, toss, and transfer to a sealed container or zip-lock bag to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
To Finish
- Thirty minutes before cooking, remove the chicken from the fridge and finely dice the onion.
- Preheat your saute pan to medium-high. Add three tablespoons of olive oil to the hot pan. Make sure the pan surface is entirely coated by tilting the pan back and forth. It is ready when the pan starts to smoke just a little bit.
- Carefully add the chicken to the pan and lower the heat to medium. Because this is a cream sauce, you don't want to sear the meat too dark or caramelize the onions too brown. This prevents the drippings from giving the sauce too dark a color.
- Saute the chicken for 2 minutes per side until golden brown and transfer to a plate. Discard any excess oil in the pan, leaving just a little to cook the onions.
- Add the onions and one tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves and cook gently until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of white wine, and scrape any drippings stuck to the pan using a wooden spoon or wooden spatula. (Deglazing) Reduce this liquid to a syrup and add another ½ cup of wine. Reduce the additional wine to an essence and add ½ the heavy cream. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the cream and onions until reduced by half.
- Add the remaining ½ cup of cream and the whole-grain mustard. Using your wooden spoon, stir until the sauce is completely incorporated.
- Add your remaining fresh thyme leaves.
- Adjust the seasonings, add the chicken and any accumulated juices back to the pan, and cover.
- Simmer, turning once until thoroughly cooked.
Notes
UPDATE - A reader commented that the three tablespoons of mustard were too much, so I'm suggesting you start with two tablespoons, taste, and adjust. Just like hot pepper, some people like more and some like less, so adapt this and every recipe to your preferences.