Creamy Dijon Chicken
I make a couple variations of this and all of them work just perfectly. Here, I left the chicken breasts whole and just pan-fried them for a bit longer to ensure theyre cooked through this is the very lazy approach. I also sometimes cube the chicken making it perfect to serve with rice and I sometimes flatten the chicken to make an escalopes of sorts which takes the cooking time right down to 2 minutes per side. Whichever way you choose is completely up to you and how much time you have on your hands. Also, what you serve with your chicken is completely left up to what you feel like and how lazy you are on that particular day. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING works with this. My favourite is Jasmine Rice or a good crusty slice of bread, but you could so easily serve this with baked potato, potato wedges, mash, polenta, pasta, couscous or just on its own. I always serve a side salad with this but only because I really like a zesty, fresh salad when I eat something rich and creamy, the salad cuts through all the cream nicely and makes me feel less guilty of course. This really is the perfect thing to serve over a weekend when you feel like cooking something delicious but couldnt be bothered to stand in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes. Served with a few bottles of wine and good company, you have a match made in heaven.
I make a couple variations of this and all of them work just perfectly. Here, I left the chicken breasts whole and just pan-fried them for a bit longer to ensure theyre cooked through this is the very lazy approach. I also sometimes cube the chicken making it perfect to serve with rice and I sometimes flatten the chicken to make an escalopes of sorts which takes the cooking time right down to 2 minutes per side. Whichever way you choose is completely up to you and how much time you have on your hands. Also, what you serve with your chicken is completely left up to what you feel like and how lazy you are on that particular day. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING works with this. My favourite is Jasmine Rice or a good crusty slice of bread, but you could so easily serve this with baked potato, potato wedges, mash, polenta, pasta, couscous or just on its own. I always serve a side salad with this but only because I really like a zesty, fresh salad when I eat something rich and creamy, the salad cuts through all the cream nicely and makes me feel less guilty of course. This really is the perfect thing to serve over a weekend when you feel like cooking something delicious but couldnt be bothered to stand in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes. Served with a few bottles of wine and good company, you have a match made in heaven.
- olive oil for frying
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 4 large skinless & de-boned chicken breasts (left whole, cubed or flattened)
- 2 large leeks finely sliced
- 250 ml cream
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt & pepper to taste
- starch of your choice to serve
- fresh parsley to serve
- Carbohydrate 9.8389116689212 g
- Cholesterol 104.019857964153 mg
- Fat 20.9620000346635 g
- Fiber 1.08072497468442 g
- Protein 25.6093707803517 g
- Saturated Fat 8.0730136777139 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (234g)
- Sodium 337.638141190396 mg
- Sugar 8.75818669423679 g
- Trans Fat 3.32265001564085 g
- Calories 319 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat 2tbsn oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken until cooked through and browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Fry the leeks and garlic until fragrant and softened (about 5 minutes).
- Add the cream, mustards and lemon juice and allow to simmer and reduce for 3 minutes.
- Add lemon juice and place the chicken back into the sauce.
- Season to taste and serve with the starch of your choice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
Acid and Dairy Interaction
Simmering heavy cream alongside citrus juice requires careful heat control to prevent the dairy solids from breaking. Maintain a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil, as high heat causes the milk proteins to coagulate into grainy clumps instead of forming a cohesive coating. Adding the lemon juice in two stages—first with the mustards to cook off harsh sulfur notes, and a final splash at the end—retains the sharp top notes of the fruit. Whole chicken breasts require approximately six to eight minutes per side in a heavy frying pan depending on thickness, monitored until an internal temperature of 74 degrees Celsius is reached. Flattening the meat into thin escalopes reduces this cooking window to under three minutes per side, altering the moisture retention and surface browning.Texture Management
Maintaining the viscosity of the sauce depends on avoiding excess moisture accumulation during the leek-softening phase. Pat the chicken breasts thoroughly with paper towels before searing to promote efficient Maillard browning on the protein surface, which prevents steaming and grey discoloration in the pan. Overcooking the poultry leads to moisture expulsion, tightening the muscle fibers and creating a dry texture that even rich dairy sauces cannot fully mask. Incorporating fresh parsley just before serving provides herbaceous contrast and visual definition against the pale sauce.
