Okay, here it is: French food doesn't have to be pretentious, and not only is this dish one of my favorites to eat, it's also one of the easiest to make.
Don't tell anyone, especially Matt. He seems to think I'm some sort of master chef whenever Provençal chicken is on the table, and I'd like to keep him thinking that way because I am shallow and like the compliments. What? Like you don't like a little ego padding once in a while? ;)
Whenever I'm short on time, cranky, or tired, I turn to this dish. It's my go-to recipe because it delivers big flavor with minimal effort. Be advised, though, that since I've made it so many times it's easier than it will be the first few times around for those not familiar with the recipe. Stick with it, and your spouses will think you're a domestic goddess.
I like to serve it with rice (our favorite is Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley, which has long grain brown rice, black barley, and daikon radish seeds. Sounds strange, tastes AMAZING.) and a veggie. I've got Matt hooked on roasted veggies, and since it's asparagus season we've been eating TONS of it! To roast veggies, preheat your oven to 400-425 degrees Fahrenheit. For more delicate veggies like asparagus, I go with 400 degrees, but for hearty ones like potatoes, I kick it up to 425. Line a baking sheet with tin foil--for easy cleanup--and place your washed and dried veggies on it. Drizzle 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil on top of the veggies, shuffle the veg around with your hands to make sure they're all covered with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes (depending on the veggie). You can change it up though; sometimes we'll pair the chicken with roast potatoes as our starch and sauté some French green beans. Do whatever's in season, on sale, or just sounds good.
This dish attributed to the south of France is a perfect blend of hearty chicken, the delicate mélange of flavors from herbes de provence (see note in the ingredients list), and the tangy quality of lemon, wine, and mustard. Eating this dish is like getting a big, warm hug from France, and I love the fact that the flavors are so simple and affordable but deliver such amazing flavor.
Since I hate wasting good flavor, I like to make a simple pan gravy after the chicken finishes cooking. It tastes AWESOME over rice, and since it carries the flavors of the chicken, I think it really ties the dish together.
Provençal Chicken
Prep time: 10 min.
Cook time: 20 min.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts (one for each person)
Extra virgin olive oil
Herbes de Provence (a delicious combo of lots of herbs sold all over the south of France)
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced (If you haven't discovered the wonderfully mild onion-y flavor of shallots, I definitely suggest giving them a try!)
1 lemon, juiced
1-2 T all-purpose flour
1-1.5 c. dry white wine or chicken broth
1/2 T Dijon mustard
1. In a medium or large sauté pan, heat your olive oil over medium heat. While you're waiting for the oil to heat, season your chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence. Be generous; chicken tends to be a little dull.
2. Once your oil is heated, place your chicken breasts in the pan and cook until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side. Once cooked through, remove chicken from heat and cover with tin foil so that the chicken can rest and stay warm.
3. In the same pan, cook the garlic and shallots. Be sure not to burn your garlic! It'll be a pretty quick process, maybe 1-1.5 minutes, so watch the pan carefully.
4. Toss the juice from your lemon in the pan. I love how, when the lemon juice hits the hot pan, it hisses back at you. Lemon is so sassy!
5. Throw a tablespoon of all-purpose flour into the pan and stir with a whisk. Using a whisk is very important because it effectively incorporates the flour into the other ingredients in the pan. Let the flour cook at least a minute; you want to cook out the flat flour-y taste. The flour is acting as your thickener for your gravy here.
6. Whisking constantly, pour your white wine or chicken broth into the pan. Be sure to thoroughly incorporate the liquid into the flour mixture so that your pan gravy is satiny smooth. Squirt in the Dijon mustard and incorporate into the gravy. Mustard also acts as a thickener, so if you find that your gravy is too thick for your liking, feel free to add some more wine or broth. It'll thicken more as it cooks, so don't get too trigger happy on adding more liquid or you'll end up with thin gravy. When it's thickened to your liking, season to taste.
7. Time to plate your dish!
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| Bon appétit! |
Tomorrow, we're making crêpes! We bought Nutella to stuff them with...we just couldn't help ourselves.
Until then, bonne nuit!
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