Herb Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce
It’s almost Christmas day and I’m excited to share this luscious main dish with you. I’ve prepared it so many times to great rave reviews. I made it for the Bariatric cooking class I teach monthly as well as for a large group of women recently gathered for a lovely Christmas dinner celebration. It was very well received!
Everyone craves this moist chicken coated in a mustard herb paste, baked or sauteed and then covered in a light, but luscious lemon cream sauce. Keep reading to learn how to pull this dish together.
Keeping chicken nice and moist is everyone’s challenge because it’s so easy to overcook it. This recipe calls for a delicious mustard, olive oil, herb-garlic and lemon paste which you coat all over the chicken pieces. Then I saute each chicken breast in melted butter over medium high heat to brown and seal in the juices. Then reduce the heat to medium and allow chicken to slowly finish cooking. This takes about 10-15 minutes on the stove top and about 25-30 minutes in the oven.
The lemon cream sauce is a basic white sauce with added lemon zest and lemon juice. Melt butter and chicken base (I use Better Than Bouillon) along with some garlic to make a paste. White wine or cooking wine (non-alcoholic) is added followed by half and half. Additional basil and red pepper flakes are added along with the lemon zest and juice. It stores well in the refrigerator if you happen to make too much, but honestly that doesn’t happen much. It thickens as it cools, but heating back up restores it’s smooth creamy texture.
I like to serve with a big green salad, like this Winter Green Salad with Pomegranate Dressing. I also think it pairs nicely with the Cranberry Butternut Squash Farro Pilaf I recently posted. And how about a yummy chocolate dessert to finish? Whip up a batch of Chocolate Mint Truffle Cookies or Brownie Cups with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It’s a lovely Christmas dinner combination that I thoroughly recommend!
Merry Christmas from my house to yours!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:357]
You may also enjoy:
Chicken Cordon Bleu with Butter Lemon Sauce
Lemon and Thyme Grilled Chicken
Lemon Basil Chicken over Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
