Chicken Breasts with Mustard-Cider Sauce


According to JS Online, the site where K found the Chicken Breasts with Mustard-Cider Sauce, this recipe hails from America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking. It’s good as is. Frankly, I don’t know how you can go wrong with a sauce containing: apple cider, apple cider vinegar, whole-grain mustard, butter, and shallots. K served it with some angel hair pasta with olive oil and cheese, which complemented the vinegary sauce. 



Chicken Breasts with Mustard-Cider Sauce

½ cup flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
¼ teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning (divided)
Dash of pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
1 shallot, minced
1-¼ cups apple cider
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2) Place flour in a wide, shallow dish.
3) Wash and dry chicken.
4) Pound down thick ends of the chicken breasts until pieces are a uniform thickness for even cooking.
5) Pat dry, season lightly with salt and pepper, then dredge with flour.
6) Shake off excess.
7) Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.
8) Add chicken pieces and cook until light golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes.
9)Transfer pieces to a plate and keep warm in preheated oven.
10) Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet over medium-high heat and add minced shallot with ¼ teaspoon salt.
11) Cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
12) Stir in apple cider and cider vinegar, scraping up the browned bits on pan bottom.
13) Simmer until sauce has reduced and turns slightly syrupy, about 8 minutes.
14) Stir in any accumulated juices from plate with chicken.
15) Turn heat to low and whisk in butter, a tablespoon at a time.
16) Remove from heat.
17) Stir in parsley and mustard.
18) Season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
19) Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.