I have to start this blog off with an apology followed by a list of excuses. First I “Ella” am sorry that I have not posted a blog review, urban evolve or recipe in ages.
Now for the excuses…. I just bought a house.
Ok only one excuse really but at least its a good one. We moved into our new house almost two months ago and have been steady remodeling, painting, tearing up and fixin’ things since then, so little time for blog writing.
Luckily we have reached a breaking point, we have come up for air and decided to simply live in our house for a while. The kitchen is put back together so the cooking, and blog writing, has started again.
One of the many super cool things about our new house is the HUGE rosemary plant in the front yard. It is so fragrant and wonderful I have been putting it in almost everything I make. So needless to say it made an appearance in last nights dinner, Creamy Dijon Chicken adapted from a great little blog I found called Smitten Kitchen.
Smitten Kitchen is ran by a woman named Deb, who has obviously put a lot of time and effort into creating this awesome blog. It is chock full of gorgeous photos, great tips, conversions, funny little tid bits and about a million recipes.
Ok, I didn’t count but I would be willing to bet that I am not too far off. The bulk of her recipes are comfort foods stepped up a bit, but nothing too pretentious. She says “ I don’t do truffle oil, Himalayan pink salt at $10 per quarter-ounce or single-origin chocolate that can only be found through Posh Nosh-approved purveyors. I think food should be accessible, and are certain that you don’t need any of these things to cook fantastically”.
She does all of the cooking, takes all of the photos, and sometimes even washes the dishes, and if you find out that you like her blog as much as I do you will be exited to know that she has a cook book coming out in the fall!
The Creamy Dijion Chicken was adapted from her recipe for Roasted Chicken with Dijion Sauce. She roasted a whole chicken, but I had some boneless skinless breasts on hand so I used those instead and of course threw in a substantial amount of fresh rosemary, but flowed her recipe pretty closely otherwise.
I served the chicken with some simple smashed potatoes and garlic spinach, both of which were made much better after being drowned in the cream dijion sauce. This recipe is a winner in my book and hers will be made again soon!
Roasted Chicken with Dijon Sauce
Adapted from Gourmet, March 2008
3 pounds chicken parts (thighs, drumsticks, and/or breasts), with skin and bones
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 small shallots, thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup reduced-sodium or sodium-free chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives or the green parts of scallions
Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack in middle. Pat chicken dry and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet (if you’ve got a cast iron skillet, it is great here) over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Working in 2 batches, brown chicken, skin side down first and turning once, about 5 minutes per batch. I like to take a lot of care in this step, not moving the chicken until the skin releases itself and has a nice bronze on it, which will provide the best flavor and seal in the most juices.
Return all chicken, skin side up, to skillet and roast in oven until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter, then add shallots, wine, and broth to pan juices in skillet and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cream and boil until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. To thicken the sauce further, turn the heat to high and boil it until it reduces to a consistency you prefer.
Strain sauce through a sieve into a bowl, if you’re feeling fancy (I never am, but if you don’t, you might find some chicken bits scraped up from the pan in your sauce. We don’t mind.) Whisk in mustard, chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken with sauce.
