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Saturday, March 2, 2013

Chicken Breasts Diable

I didn't think the recipe sounded so great, I have to admit.  But it was a simple recipe using chicken breasts, shallot, onion, white wine, heavy cream, french mustard, salt, pepper.  So it was to be the Friday night supper.  Son is rarely around for dinner these days with his work and social schedule and I try NOT to cook on Friday nights.  Husband reminded me of that. Usually it's pizza or chinese food night.  I assure him it was going to be a quick cook and not a bother.

I didn't have chicken breasts, but did have some skinless, boneless chicken thighs, which I use a lot as they are tasty and moist.  I pounded them out flat between wax paper before slipping them into the fry pan with olive oil and butter.  Is there anything better than the smell of chicken frying?  I got a nice brown crust on the outsides and then I let them rest under a foil tent on a platter in a warm oven while I started on the sauce. Into the fry pan went the shallot and garlic and I let them cook until softened and added the white wine, let it boil some, then added the heavy cream and some wonderful french mustard with provence herbs.  Wow, what an aroma.  It didn't take Husband long to come into the kitchen sniffing the air and asking how long until dinner!  I took a taste of the sauce, and while it wasn't 'hot', it had a nice mustardy-winey bite.
I served the chicken along with some carrots and 2 colors of green beans.  Wonderful dish!  It looked like spring on a plate, more than the pea soup from the week before.


We've got spring fever!  March has now arrived and I can't wait to get outside and work the gardens!  The daffodil leaves are up promising to deliver the gorgeous yellow blooms in just a few weeks. The red tips of the peonies also have emerged.  I saw some red flower buds coming on the trees.
I am a March birthday girl and I usually take the day off from work.  My birthday is mid-month and I've been lucky more times than not, to have a warm enough day to spend outdoors.  I walk around our three quarter acre and see all of the gardening tasks to be done and wonder how many hours I've spent doing that in the last 27 years here.  But I love it, especially since I sit and stare at a computer all day at work.  Every year I say to myself that I've planted enough and can just maintain what's there.  But that resolution doesn't last!  Already I have about 15 new plants coming from favorite mail order company bluestoneperennials.com.  There plants are sizable, healthy, robust, and reasonably priced.  Do I know where I am going to plant these?  No, I don't, lol! I buy mostly perennials that the deer leave alone unless they are desperate.  Plants like peonies, daffodils, bleeding heart, foxglove, columbine, hellebores. I have my David Austin roses protected behind a wire fence.  Deer love roses.

I also want to start some heirloom tomatoes and eggplant from seeds. I did that a couple of years ago with good results. I have a grow light and heating mat that I set up in the garage.

So what do you do when spring fever strikes you?

7 comments:

  1. We have been going through the seed catalogues... it is almost time... I expected the chicken to be hot but it was pleasant... glad you enjoyed it too.

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  2. Happy almost spring! We are still 6-8 weeks or more out from the daffodils, but the longer days do make me happy!
    This chicken was GOOD. Glad to hear it was a hit for you as well!

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  3. I am behind on my gardening already! I should be out there planting peas, but it will have to wait until next weekend.

    Your dinner looks perfect for early spring.

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  4. Happy almost birthday :) Yes- I am with you on the pizza/Chinese nights. I have actually subjected my family to a few too many over the last few years and am inspired to get back into the kitchen. Luckily, recipes like this actually help. Easy,delish (I am tweaking my mustard choice) and quick.

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  5. When our sons reached the stage of living at home but never being at home Friday night was pizza night for us too. Now that we have an empty nest we often fill it with friends and a nice dinner:) We loved the chicken too! Spring is teasing us here in Oklahoma! We will have a couple of nice warm days then the temp drops to freezing and the wind blows. My daffodils have swollen buds and I hope to have flowers before we leave town next week! Happy Spring and Happy Birthday Coming Soon Kathleen:)

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  6. Glad you liked the dish. I started vegetable seeds indoors too one year. It was really fun to mist them and watch them start. Our garden needs some TLC this year! Happy Birthday and Happy Spring!

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  7. Just ordered some heirlooms and cannot wait to plant them along with the other goodies. Yay Spring.

    I almost didn't make this either because of the mustard. Sure glad I did!!

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