Mustard Chicken

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I told you that I had a lot of chicken recipes to post in January.

 

Only thing is, I made this in November and just never got around to posting it...oops.  Until now!  Mustard Chicken...sounds kind of weird, but it is really, really, really good.  I'm sure it's even better if you are not two drinks in when you try to follow the recipe directions.

You see, this chicken was made during Evening #2 of 'my sister-in-law and I attempt to make something from the Jamie Oliver Meals in Minutes cookbook' night.  This time we were at her and my brother-in-law's apartment, and the meal we chose to make was Jamie's 'Mustard Chicken / Quick Dauphinoise / Greens.

My sister-in-law Caitlin making the Mustard Chicken, while I fondly look on

The results were as follows:

1) First of all, we of course went to see Breaking Dawn 2 (and it was awesome), so the evening got started with a terrific bang.

2) Next, I realized that I forgot my wine at home, along with some of the ingredients that I was supposed to bring for the recipe.  Worst.  We were going to have to improvise.

3) Then, 20 minutes spent laughing while trying to figure out how to get Caitlin's new food processor (yeah for weddings!) to work (the attachment was on upside down).

4) Comments such as, "Why the 'bleep' does Jamie Oliver insist on using a food processor in every 'gosh darn' recipe?"  And, "What the $&#^ is a dauphinoise?" were heard.  As yet, we do not have answers to these questions.

5) The potatoes were delicious-looking, but unfortunately not delicious-tasting, largely in part because they turned out basically raw, like eating an apple.  We all commented that we could see how they had potential to be great, if only we had properly followed the recipe instructions (we did not).

6) Our first-ever attempt at making 'greens' turned into a pile of green-black looking slime (with a hint of lemon taste!) that was dry-heave inducing at best.  Properly following instructions also may have helped here.

7) Hunger set in again about 4 minutes after the meal was finished, which makes sense because pretty much the only thing that we ate was the chicken, the delicious mustard chicken.  All four of us agreed that it was fabulous, and the only problem was that there wasn't enough of it.  This is a keeper recipe that I will definitely make again.

8) We ate chips and dip for dessert.

Even with all of these events, I still can't decide whether this attempt was better or worse than when we made Crispy Chicken in Green Curry Sauce (which was actually a great recipe too, just poorly orchestrated by us) from the Meals in Minutes cookbook the last time we had a cards night.  It doesn't really matter because we had a really fun time doing it.

Oh, and we had another of these fun cards nights just this past Friday...and we ordered pizza!

Mustard Chicken

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 x 6 oz. chicken breasts
• 4 tsp. English mustard
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 large leek
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 heaping tsp. whole grain mustard

Directions
Place a large oven-proof frying pan over medium heat.  Smear the English mustard over the chicken breasts.  Pick the leaves off of the rosemary, and sprinkle over the chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle some olive oil over the chicken.  Massage the mustard, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil flavours into the meat.  Drizzle some more olive oil into the frying pan.  Put the chicken breasts into the frying pan, and cook for about 18 minutes, using a slotted spatula to press down on the chicken occasionally to help it cook faster.

Trim the leek, halve it lengthwise, and wash it thoroughly.  Thinly slice the leek, using only the white part and some of the light green part (discarding the rest).  Move the chicken to one side of the frying pan, and place the leeks into the other side of the frying pan.

Like so

Crush the unpeeled garlic, and place into the frying pan with the chicken.  Flip the chicken, then press down on it again.  Stir the leeks and add the white wine to the pan.  Check to make sure that the chicken is cooked through, then add the heavy cream to the pan, and stir.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and slice into uneven pieces.  Stir the whole grain mustard into the frying pan and stir.  Spoon the sauce onto a platter, and place the chicken pieces on top.  Drizzle some olive oil on top, and serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source: Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes (a great cookbook!)

 

What Was Cooking on Playing With My Food One Year Ago:  Herb and Parmesan-Crusted Pork Tenderloin (would make it with gluten-free breadcrumbs nowadays)