Roasted Chicken with French-Style Pan Sauce

One of my absolute favorite foods in the world is roasted chicken. Growing up it was on the dinner table at least twice a week, and yet, it was hard to get sick of the crispy skin and juicy meat.


When I saw this recipe for chicken with a pan sauce in my October Cooking Light magazine (which by the way has like 10 other recipes that I can't wait to try), it brought back memories of family dinners in which we sat around discussing our days.


The chicken turned out amazing (and Mom, I hate to say, but maybe even better than yours)! The skin was a perfect golden-brown and the meat was oh-so-tender and juicy. However, the pan sauce is what really made it. It was rich and creamy with a nice zing from the dijon mustard.
I served my chicken just like my mom would but with a little flair, with some simple mashed potatoes (yukon gold potatoes peeled and cooke then mashed with butter, salt, pepper, and skim milk), and some lemony green beens (beans boiled for 3 minutes then tossed in a saute pan with butter and lemon juice and finished with a bit of lemon zest). It was a perfect home-style meal that I can't wait to share with my family.

Roasted Chicken with French-Style Pan Sauce

recipe from October 2010 Cooking Light

ingredients:

• 2-4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
3. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
4. When the oil is hot, place the chicken breasts in the pan, skin-side down. Cook until the skin is golden-brown in color (about 5-8 minutes). Then, turn the breasts over and place the entire pan in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken is 160 degrees, or the juices run clear.
5. Take the chicken out of the oven (and immediately place an oven mitt on the 350 degree metal handle so you don't forget it's freakin' hot and grab it like myself) and place the breasts on a separate plate. Cover the chicken with tin foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
6. While the chicken is resting, heat the pan the chicken was in over medium-high heat. Deglaze the pan with the wine and cook until it reduces by about half. Add in the dijon mustard and whisk to combine.
7. In a separate bowl, combine the cream with the flour and mix until there are no clumps. Add the cream/flour mixture to the pan and bring to a boil. Cook the sauce for 3-4 minutes, whisking constantly. Serve with the chicken.