Recipe: French Spring Chicken Pot

Day Three of my perfect menu search continues...

INGREDIENTS


•4 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breasts
•2 onions, 1 halved and 1 chopped
•1 bay leaf
•3 tablespoons butter
•1 baking potato, peeled and cut into small cubes (I used two large red potatoes)
•2 carrots, peeled and cut into small cubes (I used pre-sliced frozen carrots)
•3 small ribs celery, cut into small cubes
•1/3 pound white mushrooms (a couple of generous handfuls), quartered (I used pre-sliced frozen mushrooms)
•1/3 pound thin green beans (a couple of generous handfuls), cut on an angle into 1-inch pieces (again, pre-sliced and frozen beans were used by me)
•Salt and pepper
•2 tablespoons flour (I prefer cornstarch)
•1/2 cup dry white wine (I didn't have any wine! It was just fine without)
•1 1/2 cups chicken broth
•1/2 cup frozen peas
•3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped (dried works just as well)
•2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
•1/3 cup heavy cream
•Grainy rolls or crusty whole wheat bread, for dunking

PREPARATION
In a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven filled with simmering water, cook the chicken, halved onion and bay leaf until cooked through and tender, 15-20 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces or, using 2 forks, shred in a bowl.

Wipe out the pot, add the butter and melt over medium heat. One vegetable at a time, stir in the chopped onion, potato, carrots, celery and mushrooms.


Cover the pot, lower the heat and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the green beans and season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the flour into the pot and stir for 1 minute.

Stir in the wine, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer.


Stir in the peas, tarragon and mustard and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken to the vegetables. Stir in the cream and heat through.




Serve with the bread.



THE END RESULT


This was a wonderful homemade soup from RachaelRay.com that didn't take very long to make - about 45 minutes. My husband is working late tonight (and isn't even done with his shift at the time of posting!) but my best friend Lauren came over to visit and was my rater for the evening. She gave the dish a rating of "8". It was also yet another meal that my picky kid could not get enough of!