Supremes De Volaille Aux Champignons

Just watched "Julie & Julia" again last night.  While I'm not so motivated to cook all the way through her cookbook, I am enthralled again by the master and I'm going to attempt this recipe tonight for dinner.

And one must pronounce it en Francais to make it real: "Supremes de Volaille Aux Champignons", because Champignon sounds way more sophisticated then mushroom. :)


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

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts ( supremes)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots or 1 tablespoon green onion
• 1/4 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the sauce

• 1/4 cup white stock or 1/4 cup brown stock
• 1/4 cup port wine or 1/4 cup madeira wine or 1/4 cup dry white vermouth
• 1 cup whipping cream
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly minced parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. 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.
3. 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 6 minutes, press top of chicken with your finger. If still soft, return to oven for a moment or two. When the meat is springy to the touch it is done.
4. Remove the chicken to a warm platter (leave mushrooms in the pot) and cover while making the sauce (2 to 3 minutes).
5. 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.  

And so it goes...

Ingredients gathered.

5 T. is A LOT of butter... very rich!

4 skinless, boneless breast scallops.

Mine were not all the same size; I should have 

pounded them down, but I didn't.  Thus, I had

to cook the chicken for 12 minutes instead.

(* Many responses online say you can

cook these in 6 minutes; at 6 minutes,

I saw raw chicken.  Now Julia maybe had

the benefit of fresh chicken slaughtered

ten minutes before she cooked it; I on the other

hand have processed chicken from Stater Brothers,

and I don't mess around with raw chicken)

Minced Shallots.  Did I mention, I LOVE shallots?

Dipped in butter mixture, settling into their casserole home.

After 12 minutes, removed the chicken and tented it. 

Kept the meat very moist as it steamed to perfection.

What the dish looks like post chicken removal.

Added beef stock and marsala (didn't find

Vermouth in the cooking section and didn't want

to buy a whole bottle from the liquor section-

because, drinking the rest of it would ruin 

my taste buds for this recipe manifique!)

Heavy cream- check!

Stir the cream and syrupy broth mix together.

Cookin' down to glorious creamy sauce.

Add your chopped italian (flat) parsley.

Served with rice pilaf and a parsley garnish. 

Now yell "BON APPETIT!"