Chicken Louisa
Here's a chicken recipe that's great for a quick weekday meal with an elegant touch. I have used the sauce with homemade lobster ravioli, and I think it would go well with veal, too. I named this recipe after my mother, who was a great cook. This dish is a wonderful weekday meal. But its simple elegance also makes it perfect for a party.
Here's a chicken recipe that's great for a quick weekday meal with an elegant touch. I have used the sauce with homemade lobster ravioli, and I think it would go well with veal, too. I named this recipe after my mother, who was a great cook. This dish is a wonderful weekday meal. But its simple elegance also makes it perfect for a party.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 4 (1/3-inch-thick) chicken cutlets (1 1/2 lb)
- 1 medium shallot finely chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
- 4 or 5 plum tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
- 1/2 extra-large chicken-bouillon cube crumbled
- garnish: finely chopped fresh chives
- Carbohydrate 2.65969875 g
- Cholesterol 76.363125 mg
- Fat 26.383305 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0.84653625 g
- Saturated Fat 16.198179 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (81g)
- Sodium 13.208625 mg
- Sugar 2.65969875 g
- Trans Fat 1.66023525 g
- Calories 267 calories
Step-by-step
- Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil and butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides.
- Brown chicken on both sides in 2 batches, about 3 minutes per batch.
- Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm.
- Add shallot to skillet and cook, stirring, until tender, about 1 minute.
- Add wine and deglaze by boiling over high heat, scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half.
- Stir in cream, tomatoes, tarragon, and bouillon cube, then simmer, stirring, until tomatoes are softened and sauce begins to thicken, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Return chicken, with any juices accumulated on plate, to skillet and simmer until cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
That single-line ingredient breakdown misses the physical footprint required to execute this properly. Thin poultry cutlets demand space to develop a proper sear rather than steam in their own moisture. Using a heavy 12-inch skillet ensures the metal retains thermal mass when cold meat hits the surface, preventing sticking and promoting even browning within the designated three-minute window per batch.
Achieving Pan-Sauce Integrity
Heavy cream combined with dry white wine creates an emulsion that relies entirely on proper reduction to achieve consistency. Boiling the wine over high heat until reduced by half concentrates the acids necessary to bind the dairy fats without breaking. Adding the tomatoes and crumbled bouillon cube too early introduces excess water prematurely, which halts the thickening process. Simmering the liquid for precisely three to four minutes allows the pectin in the plum tomatoes to soften and integrate into the cream.
- Overcrowding the skillet drops surface temperature and causes gray, steamed meat instead of golden crusts.
- Failing to scrape up the fond during the wine deglazing step eliminates essential savory depth from the final sauce.
- Boiling the cream too aggressively after it enters the pan will cause the dairy solids to separate and curdle.
