Chicken breasts in piquant cream

It had been more than a few moons since we'd had a genuine, home-cooked meal (other than the quick-and-dirty mac and cheeses and fettucine alfredos). But we finally had a breath to take the time and cook something substantial. I'd brought back from Madison an abundance of frozen chicken breasts, so I had spent the morning scouring the cookbooks for something new to try. I ran across this recipe in, where better, the Chicken Breasts cookbook, which involves a piquant cream sauce with Dijon, tomato, cream and Worcestershire sauce. This sounded like an excellent combination (plus I just love saying the word 'piquant').

Recipe

from Chicken BreastsServes 2 1-1/2 skinless chicken breasts4 tbsp white wine vinegar5 tbsp dry white wine1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard1/4 cup heavy cream1 tsp Worcestershire sauce4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved1 Roma tomato, puréed3 tbsp buttersalt and pepperIn a sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add chicken breasts and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until chicken breasts are lightly browned. Pour in the vinegar and wine and continue cooking for 5 to 7 minutes more, or until the liquid has almost totally evaporated. Remove the chicken breasts to a heated platter. Discard the garlic.To the pan, add the mustard and tomato purée and stir until smooth, using a few drops of wine if necessary. Place pan over very low heat, stir in the cream and Worcestershire sauce, and whisk until well-blended. Heat through and pour over the chicken breasts.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: David threw in a couple garlic cloves while puréeing the tomato.We very much enjoyed the piquant cream sauce--it had a great tanginess, owed in large part to the vinegar, tomato and Worcestershire. David noted that the recipe had him cook the chicken for longer than necessary, because he was told to wait for the liquid to almost completely evaporate, so the chicken could be a bit moister. The whole dinner ensemble turned out to be super tasty--a deliciously piquant (as advertised) sauce with crisp green beans, creamy mashed potatoes and roasted butternut squash. The green beans and butternut squash added a nice sweetness against the piquancy of the sauce. A solid return to home-cooking!