Review of last recipe (photo above) - I thought I would have a nice banana bread pudding type of thing, but it took longer than the 20 minutes at 275 degrees, so I upped the temp to 350 degrees and baked it until the knife came out clean.  Only the whipped cream was edible.  It was difficult trying to get the right amount of sweetness needed; I tasted the batter and it seemed ok to me, but it probably needed to taste super-sweet in order to get enough flavor after baking.  I'm not a test kitchen so I won't be trying this again to try to get it right.  I have too many other recipes in my files to worry about one lousy one that could use tweaking.


TODAY'S RECIPE - CHICKEN BREAST TARRAGON
From McCall's Magazine June 1983 ...

Serves 8

4 whole chicken breasts (skinless, boned and cut in half)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
6 shallots, chopped
2 carrots, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1/4 cup cognac or brandy
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh tarragon or 2 tsp dried
1 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped chervil or 1/2 tsp dried
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup light cream
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp flour
1/2 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
sprigs of fresh tarragon

Heat oil and 2 tbsp butter in dutch oven.  Add chicken breasts (only enough to cover bottom of the pan), saute; turning until brown on all sides.  Remove chicken as it browns and add the rest of the chicken to the pan until all are browned. 

To the drippings, add shallots and carrot and saute; stirring for 5 minutes or until golden.  Return chicken to the pan.  When hot, slightly heat the cognac or brandy in a ladle and ignite.  Add the cognac, then the white wine, chopped tarragon, chervil, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently, covered for 30 minutes.  Remove chicken to heated serving platter and keep warm.  Strain drippings from the pan.  In a small bowl, combine cream, egg yolk and flour and mix well with a whisk.  Stir into drippings and bring just to boiling, stirring constantly.  Add more wine if the sauce seems too thick. 

Meanwhile, saute mushrooms in hot butter for 5 minutes until tender.  Spoon sauce over chicken, and garnish with tarragon and mushrooms.