Julia Child's Chicken With A Mushroom Cream Sauce

I love Pinterest!  Yes, I admit to a Pinterest addiction.  I have another confession:  I pin a lot but don't do much with it!  My niece Julia pinned this great recipe and I just had to try it.  It is a Julia Child's recipe so you know it has to be good! 

Wait - good doesn't even begin to describe this chicken.  It was FABULOUS!  This is a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  When I think about French cooking I think - complicated - but this was easy to make.  This recipe is a keeper!

Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons 

(Chicken Breasts with Mushroom and Cream)

Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Knopf, 1961)

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper (each)

5 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1/4 pound diced or sliced fresh mushrooms

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the sauce:

1/4 cup white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon

1/4 cup port, Madeira or dry white vermouth

1 cup whipping cream

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons freshly minced parsley

Directions:Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rub the chicken breasts with drops of lemon juice and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a heavy, oven-proof casserole, about 10 inches in diameter until it is foaming. Stir in the minced shallots or green onion and saute a moment without browning. Then stir in the mushrooms and saute lightly for a minute or two without browning. Sprinkle with salt.

Quickly roll the chicken in the butter mixture and lay a piece of buttered wax paper over them, cover casserole and place in hot oven. After 20-30 minutes, insert a meat thermometer to ensure the proper temperature of the chicken.  

Remove the chicken to a warm platter (leave mushrooms in the pot) and cover while making the sauce (2 to 3 minutes).

To make sauce, pour the stock and wine in the casserole with the cooking butter and mushrooms. Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy.

Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste for seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Mangia!