For one of my bridal showers over six years ago, I got a lovely little cookbook called "A Taste for Love: A Romantic Cookbook for Two" by Elizabeth M. Harbison and Mary McGowan. I've only used it a couple times, but found a recipe in it this week that I thought I would be brave and try. The bravery was needed for two things. 1- It calls for mustard which I usually don't like. 2- It is made with phyllo dough, which I've never used before.
Before I give you the recipe, I have to say that I did the phyllo dough all wrong, but it tasted fine anyway. Also, I was nervous about the mustard, but the tarragon and cream made a huge difference. I really liked it! It's a very rich entree, so we won't be making it frequently. But, we liked it enough to make again. Maybe quarterly:) Okay, here's the recipe.
STUDIO CHICKEN IN PHYLLO
Purchase phyllo dough in the frozen food section of your grocery store. Be sure to keep it moist by covering it with a damp towel as you are working with it or it will dry and crumble in your hands.
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 cup country Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
10 phyllo sheets
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place the chicken pieces, seasoned salt, and flour in a 1-quart plastic bag. Close the bag and shake until the chicken pieces are coated.
3. Over medium-heat, bring the oil to bubbling in a small saute pan. Place the chicken pieces in the pan and saute until the juices no longer run pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a warm plate and keep it warm.
4. Reduce the heat to medium. Whisk the mustard into the chicken drippings. Add the tarragon and reduce slightly. Whisk in the cream, blending it all thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce is reduced by one fourth. Add the chicken to sauce, remove from the heat, and set aside.
5. Brush a shallow 1-quart casserole with melted butter. Lay 1 phyllo sheet into the casserole, patting to fit sides. Brush it down with the melted butter. Repeat the process with 4 more phyllo sheets. Fill the casserole with the chicken mixture. Layer 5 more phyllo sheets on top of chicken, buttering between each sheet.
6. Trim excess phyllo to within 1 inch of dish edge. Tuck the phyllo edges under and brush with butter.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, or until top is crisply browned.
Notes:
1. As I mentioned above, I've never worked with phyllo dough before. I knew that it was in the freezer and that it needed to be kept moist, but I didn't think to read the box to see that it should be thawed for two hours before using. Instead, I opened up the box and the plastic bag it came in and started to unroll it. Yeah...that wasn't the right thing to do. It just cracked and crumbled apart. Not having two hours to thaw it, I decided to just go with it. I took the thin, somewhat frozen pieces and layered them to represent full sheets of dough. It was a little difficult to brush on the butter since the dough kept wanted to come up with the brush, but I got it to work.
2. I used olive oil since I didn't have any peanut oil. The substitution worked just fine.
3. I didn't have a 1 quart dish shallow dish, so I used a 1.5 quart dish with 3 inch sides.
4. I don't know what makes a dijon mustard "country." I just bought one that looked more interesting in texture than Grey Poupon.
5. The 6th step in the instructions didn't make sense to me. I just put on the 5 layers of phyllo, brushed with butter between each layer, and pushed down the edges so that they wouldn't get crispy. It seemed to work just fine.
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