Hello Dilly!

I'll be the first to admit it. A Ladies Luncheon is one of the last places you would expect to find me. Yet, there I was. Listening to the finer points of Ulysses S. Grant, while wondering how Jeff and I could replicate the chicken dish that was placed in front of me. As we later learned, it would not be easy.

The dish I had that day was a grilled chicken breast in a caper-cream sauce. It was placed in a phyllo "bowl." I found the recipe below on FoodNetwork.com. Jeff doesn't like capers and this tarragon recipe looked similar to what I had at the luncheon. I couldn't find tarragon, so we used dill instead. Also, we omitted the dredging part of the chicken. What proved to be the most difficult was the phyllo bowl. I've only worked with phyllo a few times (ok, one time). It is difficult. We baked our bowls three different times, by draping the phyllo over ramekins. No matter how much we sprayed and buttered the ramekins, the phyllo would stick. In the end, they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but they worked fine for our first try at this recipe.



Chicken with Tarragon (Dill) Cream Sauce

Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon plus 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon butter, divided
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon peanut or canola oil
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided, plus more as needed
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 tablespoons finely minced fresh tarragon or dill, plus sprigs for garnish

Combine lemon juice and cream in a small bowl. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mash 1 teaspoon flour and 1 teaspoon butter in another small bowl until a paste forms. Set both bowls aside.
Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and white pepper. Dredge lightly in the remaining 1/2 cup flour, shaking off any excess. (Discard leftover flour.)

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken—do not crowd the pan. Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Add 1/2 cup broth, reduce the heat and cover. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. (Check to make sure the pan juices don’t run dry. If necessary, add more broth, a tablespoonful at a time, to prevent scorching.) Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board and tent with foil.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup broth to the pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the reserved lemon cream and bring to a simmer. Gradually whisk in the reserved butter-flour paste, a few bits at a time, until the sauce coats the spoon, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in peas.

Reduce the heat to low and return the chicken to the pan along with tarragon (or dill). Turn to coat with the sauce and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Slice the chicken and serve with the sauce, garnished with sprigs of tarragon (or dill), if desired.

What we learned:

• Dill is strong! We didn't use as much as the recipe called for. Maybe half.
• We need to practice more with phyllo dough. A lot more.

This is a delicious new way to make chicken. Enjoy!

Jessi & Jeff