Chicken Breasts with Shiitake-Thyme Cream Sauce and Roasted Baby Carrots
I feel like a lot of people tend to get pretty sick of chicken quite easily. In this sense, I am not at all like most people. There are so many options when preparing it, that I don’t see how I could ever tire of it! I think that the secret to delicious chicken is a good sauce. When I’m using breasts, I like to make a sauce that has just a touch of cream in it to add a little richness to an otherwise very lean protein. This Roasted Chicken with French-Style Pan Sauce is one of my favorite go-to chicken recipes because it is simple and tasty.
The recipe that I am sharing with you today is similar, but in my opinion, even better (though, I will admit that I have a serious thing for mushrooms, so I may be just a tad biased). The shiitakes and the thyme pair beautifully with the delicate cream sauce, creating a dish that you would never guess is actually really healthy.
On the side I served a mixed brown and wild rice, and some beautiful, roasted baby carrots. The thyme used with the carrots echoes the thyme flavor in the chicken sauce. I don’t know why I don’t roast carrots more often; they are positively delightful! My favorite way to eat this meal is with a little bit of everything in each bite :]
What I love about this recipe is that it is perfect for two. It’s often hard to find recipes out there for just two people, so there is often a lot of improvising going on here for Mikey and me. However, if you are feeding more than two, it’s also a really easy recipe to scale up!
Umm, can we just for a moment gawk at how ridiculously large this chicken breast is?? Holy protein, man!
PrintChicken Breasts with Shiitake-Thyme Cream Sauce and Roasted Baby Carrots
Yield: 2 large servings
Ingredients:
for the chicken:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups sliced shiitake mushroom caps (the stems are very woody; be sure to discard them)
- 2 tbsp dry vermouth
- 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sliced scallion greens
- 1-2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
for the carrots:
- 2 bunches baby carrots
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp fresh thyme
- salt and pepper
Directions:
for the chicken:
- Season the breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over media-high to high heat. Place the breasts in and sear for a couple of minutes on both sids until golden. Pop the pan into the oven for 10-15 minutes more until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate, tented with foil.
- Heat the pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add in the shallot and garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the shiitakes and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Pour in the vermouth, and cook, scraping up all of the browned bits on the bottom on the pan for about a minute. Pour in the broth and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in the cream, scallions, and thyme. Add the chicken back into the pan and coat with the sauce. Serve.
for the carrots:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the greens off of the tops of the carrots. Toss the carrots with the remaining ingredients and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
This dish looks positively delicious! I can't wait to try it! Thanks, Rachael, for sharing this!
Rachael replied: — June 6th, 2012 @ 11:52 pm
Please feel free to tell me how you like it, or post a photo of your finished dish to the Spache the Spatula Facebook wall!
It looks like a delicious dish!
Rachael replied: — June 7th, 2012 @ 12:33 pm
Thank you, Laura!
Made this tonight and it was amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. Unfortunately, the grocery store didn't have shitake mushrooms, so I used portabella and some dried porcini. It turned out great. Hopefully I'll be able to try it with shitake next time!
Rachael replied: — November 5th, 2012 @ 12:30 pm
So glad you enjoyed it, Jamie! Portabellas and porcinis sound like a delicious substitute!
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