April 23, 2012

What was on the menu: Creamy Mustard Chicken

Website: http://www.food52.com/recipes/1104_chicken_with_creamy_dijon_mustard_sauce

Picture:

Creamy Mustard Chicken Breast with Red Potatoes and Green Beans in Butter

The Differences: Okay there are quite a few differences so bear with me :). I used boneless chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs, I used 3 cloves of garlic instead of 12 and I peeled and minced them. I didn't use sage at all. I increased the amount of white wine to one cup and took out the cognac completely. I reduced the amount of chicken broth to 1/3 cup and reduced the amount of heavy cream to 1/3 cup. I also used 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard and added one tablespoon of Honey mustard to cut the tang a little bit. We will talk about the prep in the next paragraph.

The Prep: So take your chicken breasts and cut them in half lengthwise, flatten them just a bit and season them with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken until cooked through (this should take about 10 minutes). Remove the chicken from the skillet and add the garlic in to the skillet (I suggest using pre-minced garlic to cut down on time) and cook one minute (2 minutes total). Add the wine to the pan to deglaze the pan; let the liquid bubble up and cook until it reduces by half (5 minutes). Add the Dijon Mustard, the Honey mustard, heavy cream, and chicken broth; stir to blend (5 minutes). Add the chicken back into the pan and cook for 3 minutes. Before you start cooking the chicken, boil the water for the potatoes and clean and cut the potatoes into quarters (10 minutes). As soon as the water is boiling put the potatoes in and cook until fork tender (the same amount of time as cooking the chicken); drain and put into a different dish add butter, seasoning salt, and pepper to taste. Put the frozen green beans into a baking dish; add butter and a small amount of water; cover and cook in microwave for 7 minutes.  So, if you manage your time well it should take you about 35 minutes from beginning to end.

The Cost Breakdown:
Chicken: $2.99
White wine: $4.99
Dijon Mustard: $1.29
Heavy cream: $2.29
chicken broth: $0.99
red potatoes: $2.39
green beans: $0.99

I did not include the cost of salt, pepper, olive oil, butter, garlic, honey mustard, or the seasoned salt. I wouldn't have included the Dijon mustard or the chicken broth normally but as I didn't have those ingredients on hand I included them into the cost of the meal.

The total cost: $15.93 or $3.98 per person for a family of four.

The Verdict: According to my husband I was a bit heavy handed with the butter on the side dishes but the chicken was flavorful and a great meal in general. It was yummy, it was flavorful... my daughter demanded more of the green beans and the potatoes were yummy too! Enjoy

On a side note: All of these recipes are turning out really good. There hasn't really been more than 2 that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. I, for the most part, have really enjoyed every one of the recipes and it was very surprising to me that this was the case... I just had to insert that... see you tomorrow LOL