After seeing Julie & Julia I knew I just had to try one of Julia’s recipes. I “googled” or “gurgled” a number of them and found one that made me salivate a tad too much! Anytime the sauce has wine and heavy whipping cream you just know it will be delicious!!
I followed the directions to a tee… using shallots, beef stock & vermouth. I used my Calphalon “Everyday pan” since I didn’t have the type of casserole mentioned. I was VERY skeptical of the chicken being done in 6 minutes…and it wasn’t! I checked it at the end of the six minutes, turned the breasts over and put the wax paper back on and returned to oven for another 4 minutes. After I placed the chicken on the platter I turned off the oven, covered the platter and returned it to the oven while I made the sauce. The chicken was ‘perfect”, so moist and juicy.
As you can imagine, what makes this dish is the sauce. When I was boiling down the stock and wine with the butter and mushrooms the recipe said it would get syrupy…I didn’t think it did at all! When I thought it was at a decent consistency I added the cream and stirred vigorously until it thickened. Some comments I had read online were if not stirred fast enough the butter and cream may separate, so I took those comments to heart. The sauce turned out so velvety and bursting with flavor.
This is a dish I will definitely make again and again – especially when I want to impress someone!
Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons
Julia Child’s Chicken Breasts with Mushroom & Cream
Serves 4
4 supremes (boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
Big pinch white pepper
5 Tbsp. Butter
1 Tbsp. Minced shallot or green onion
1/4 pound diced or sliced fresh mushrooms
1/8 tsp salt
SAUCE:
1/4 Cup white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon
1/4 Cup port, Madeira or dry white vermouth
1 Cup whipping cream
Salt & Pepper
2 Tbsp. Minced parsley
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Rub the chicken breast with drops of lemon juice and sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Heat the butter in a heavy, ovenproof casserole, about 10 inches in diameter until it is foaming. Stir in the minced shallots a sauté a moment without browning. Then stir in the mushrooms and sauté lightly for a minute or two without browning. Sprinkle with salt.
Quickly roll the chicken in the butter mixture and lay a piece of buttered wax paper over them, cover casserole and place in hot oven. After 6 minutes, press top of chicken with your finger. If still soft, return to oven for a moment or two. When the meat is springy to the touch it is done. Remove the chicken to a warm platter. (leave mushrooms in the pot) and cover while making the sauce.
To make sauce, pour the stock and wine in the casserole with the booking butter and mushrooms. Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy. Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream is thickened slightly. Off heat, taste for seasoning and add drops of lemon juice to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
