Roast Chicken with Dijon Sauce
This is a great way to roast a few chicken pieces for an easy weeknight meal. This technique works well with bone-in, skin-on pieces - I don't know how well the ubiquitous boneless skinless chicken breasts would do here. Save those for a quick cutlet saute.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken parts (thighs, drumsticks, and/or breasts), with skin and bones
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup reduced-sodium or sodium-free chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives or the green parts of scallions
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack in middle. Pat chicken dry and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet (if you’ve got a cast iron skillet, it is great here) over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Working in 2 batches, brown chicken, skin side down first and turning once, about 5 minutes per batch.
- Return all chicken, skin side up, to skillet and roast in oven until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter, then add shallots, wine, and broth to pan juices in skillet and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cream and boil until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. To thicken the sauce further, turn the heat to high and boil it until it reduces to a consistency you prefer.
- Whisk in mustard, chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken with sauce.
Notes
- At Deb’s suggestion, I made this into an easy weeknight meal. I tossed some mini potatoes with olive oil and seasonings in a small casserole dish and popped it in the same time as the chicken. I let them continue to roast while I made the sauce, for a total of about 20-25 minutes. I also got some pre-cut (!!!! so worth it) green beans, steamed those in the microwave and tossed with a bit of butter and seasonings. All in all, a great meal with relatively little effort in an acceptable amount of time.
Source: Smitten Kitchen