Guest Post Friday – Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

 

A couple of weeks ago we harvested our first summer squash of the season. I love squash several ways, but the most popular squash dish in our family is the southern staple of squash casserole.  If you aren’t familiar with it, just imagine a perfectly healthy garden-fresh vegetable turned into a heart-stopping, fat-filled but oh-so-delicious casserole and you’ve got the picture.

My husband dislikes squash intensely and when he informed me of this early in our marriage, I asked him if he was sure that he disliked squash casserole. He insisted that he didn’t have to taste it, he knew he wouldn’t like it. Fast-forward about 3 years and we were at a post-funeral reception at my mother-in-law’s home eating from a large selection of dishes that visitors had brought. You can see where this is going, right? I left the room and the guilty party confessed to me later that he was thoroughly enjoying one of the dishes. As he went to get his third helping, he asked what it was. Upon hearing the answer, his response was immediate: “Don’t tell Mary Ann!”

We established that he does indeed like squash casserole and now he asks for it regularly. It’s a perfect fall dish for when the squash are still producing but the weather is cooling down, but I can never wait that long. Without further ado, here is the meal that we ate with our first squash from the garden.

Squash Casserole

Wash and slice carrots, yellow squash, and onions. Put vegetables in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven, salt to taste, and cover with water.

Boil until tender. Drain, mash together, and cool. Note: You’ll notice that onions are missing in this picture. That is because we use lots and lots of onions in our house, so we sauté several pounds at a time and freeze them already cooked. (It makes dinner prep really easy! More Secrets of a Busy Cook are on our website.) Anyway, we added our onions after the squash and carrots were cooked and drained. Next, mix cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and pimiento and add it to vegetables and mix well.

In a skillet, melt the butter and mix in the stuffing mix. Spray a 9×12 pan with cooking spray. Spread bottom with 1/2 of the stuffing mixture. Spread the vegetable mixture on the stuffing.

Cover with   the remaining stuffing mixture.

Bake at 375°F for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly and starting to brown. While the casserole is cooking, prepare the chicken.

Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

This is a delicious stovetop dish using boneless chicken breasts.

Flatten 4 pieces of boneless chicken by placing between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pounding with a rolling pin or the side of a meat mallet.

Sprinkle chicken with pepper and spread 1 Tbsp. dijon on one side of the chicken pieces. Pan-fry in olive oil, turning often, for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Remove from the chicken from the pan and keep it warm while you make the sauce.

Combine whipping cream, white wine, and dijon mustard in the pan with the drippings and bring to a boil, stirring   constantly. If you want to use a whisk I find that it makes it easier to get a smooth sauce. (I moved the sauce to a sauce pan so I could use a whisk.) Cook until thickened.

By now your squash casserole should be done.  Spoon the mustard cream sauce over the chicken before serving with the squash casserole and green beans. Enjoy!

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Recipes

Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

• 4 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Mustard Cream Sauce

• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (substitutions)
• 2 additional tsp. Dijon mustard

Flatten chicken by placing between 2 pieces of plastic wrap* and pounding with a rolling pin or the side of a meat mallet. Sprinkle chicken with pepper and spread 1 Tbsp. dijon on one side of the chicken   pieces. Pan-fry in olive oil, turning often, for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Combine sauce ingredients in pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened and spoon over chicken before serving.

Squash Casserole

• 3 pounds yellow summer squash
• 2 carrots
• 2 onions
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (homemade substitutions)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 small jar diced pimiento
• 1 stick butter
• 18 oz. Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix

Wash and slice all vegetables. Put all in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven, salt to taste, and cover with water. Boil until tender. Drain, mash together, and cool.

Mix soup, sour cream, and pimiento. Add to vegetables and mix well.

In a skillet, melt the butter and mix in the stuffing mix. Spray a 9×12 pan with cooking spray. Spread bottom with 1/2 of the stuffing   mixture. Spread the vegetable mixture on the stuffing, then cover with the remaining stuffing mixture. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.

Serve with Green Beans

Mary Ann Kelley enjoys cooking, blogging, reading, and creating websites. Check out her blog, AnswerMom.com, and her website, Menus4Moms.com, where you will find dinner menu subscriptions and sample menus to download. 

*Note from Dee: If you don’t purchase plastic wrap, you can also place the chicken between sheets of waxed paper or even better, use my method.  I save the bags from inside cereal boxes.  Place the chicken inside and then flatten.  I find these bags to be much sturdier than plastic wrap and it does a better job keeping the chicken contained.  If I’ve used one of these bags for raw meat, I throw it away but I also use them for other types of food storage in which case I wash thoroughly, allow to air dry and reuse.