Chicken Supremes with Mushroom

(Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons)

Thanks to my daughter, Alia for switching me onto Julia Child. I'd always thought of her as some out-dated American housewife who was just in the right place at the right time. How wrong I was! She was one of many people who appreciated continental cooking for what it was... and didn't appreciate American cooking for what it wasn't. So she set out to change that. This is the first recipe of hers that I ever made. It's quick and simple but also one of the most amazing dishes I've ever tasted. And at my age--that's a wonderfully pleasant and very welcome surprise. I've made minimal changes to her recipe presented here.

Oh, if you've only ever had the packet-mix that our mothers served up back in the day, then you're definitely going to be surprised when you taste the real thing... no matter how much you thought you loved that dehydrated crap.

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh
• Salt and White Pepper
• 5 Tbsp Butter
• 150g Button Mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Shallots or one small Onion, very finely diced
• Sauce:
• 100ml Chicken Stock (Recipe HERE)
• 100ml Vermouth, dry
• 1 cup (250ml) Thickened Cream
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp Parsley, fresh, chopped

Method

1. Rub the chicken breasts with the lemon juice and season with salt and white pepper. Leave covered while you prepare the rest.
2. Heat the butter in a lidded frying pan. Once it is foaming, stir in the shallots or onion and saute for only a minute. Then add the mushrooms and saute lightly for 1-2 minutes - do not wait to brown. Season with salt.
3. Add the chicken breasts in the butter mixture. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 8-10 minutes. Then, flip chicken breasts and cook on opposite side for another 8-10 minutes until chicken temperature reaches at least 74degC.
4. Remove the chicken to a warm plate (leave mushrooms/onions in the pot) and cover while making the sauce.
5. To make sauce, pour the chicken stock and vermouth in with the cooking butter and mushrooms/onions. Over medium high heat, reduce quickly until liquid is syrupy. Reduce, reduce, reduce! The more, the better.
6. Stir in cream and reduce again over medium high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste for seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste.
7. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.