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Andalusian chicken is the answer when you want gourmet quickly.
Andalusian Chicken: Quick Gourmet
Who else binge-watches old shows to feel nostalgic? I’m pretty guilty of that on days I just slouch around.
This time it was some ancient “French Chef” episodes. Admittedly I enjoyed Julia Child for her editorial comments. However, there’s plenty to learn in her shows even for experienced cooks.
The episode that featured this delicious recipe hailed from the 1970s. It’s title was something about “working guys and gals.” It was in that era that women were actively back in the job market. And lest we forget that plenty of men live alone and have to eat too, she featured two recipes that can be made in a jiff and were tasty and gourmet to boot.
Updated For Today
Back in the 70s, there weren’t the myriad of products that are available today.
When it came to tomatoes, you had fresh, of course, but canned was only whole plum or crushed. When she demonstrated this, Child used fresh tomatoes. She skinned them and seeded them then made concasse. You don’t have to bother with that now as you can buy many varieties of diced tomatoes. Here I used a can of petit diced. The fire-roasted variety would add even more flavor, but I didn’t have any in the pantry so I used what I had–my mantra.
She also boned and skinned her own chicken breasts. With boneless skinless breasts on sale so much, you don’t have to bother with that either.
As for shallots, surprise, I had some. Julia Child always recommends green onions/scallions as a substitute. If you have neither, use onion. It works.
Tarragon
I love the flavor of tarragon with chicken. I used the stuff in the jar because even though I grow it, my hydroponic garden where it was growing petered out.
A great substitute for the tarragon would be basil–either fresh or from the jar. It goes well with chicken and with tomatoes, it’s a natural. Oregano or Italian seasoning are great substitutes as well.
The Recipe
Andalusian Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 tsp oil
Sauce:
- 2 tbs finely chopped onions or shallots
- 15 oz can petit diced tomatoes drained
- 1/4 cup dry white vermouth or dry white wine
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche
- 1/2 tsp tarragon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Pound chicken breast with a meat mallet between 2 sheets of plastic wrap so they are an even thickness--about 1/2-inch/1.25-cm. With smaller or thinly sliced breasts this may not be necessary.
- Heat the oil and the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the chicken in the flour then brown on both sides in the hot skillet. This will depend on the size of the chicken breast but about 4-5 minutes each side would be a good estimate. Don't overcook!
- Remove the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Add the onion/shallot to the hot skillet in which you browned the chicken. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients. Stir this well and cook over medium-high heat until the sauce is reduced about 50 percent. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Add chicken back to pan to heat through.
Janet Bradley says
Could I use the same amount of crushed tomatoes vs diced????
Recipe sounds fabulous….just not a fan of diced tomatoes 😩🤣
Judith Hanneman says
Sure that’ll work.
Baltisraul says
Trying tonight and will add a little cilantro and lime juice just for grins as the rest of the meal will have a Mexican flair. It looks amazing