Cooking From The Markets - French Recipes

Chicken Breast with Four Spices

Blancs de Volailles aux Quatre Epices

2 whole breasts of chicken of good quality (en France, "fermier")

1 teaspoon of  these spices in ground form (white pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cloves)  

(you can vary the ratio but typically they are in quantities proportional to the order in which they appear with the cloves being not more than a pinch in a single teaspoon of this mixture)

two cups good chicken or vegetable stock or broth

1 teaspoon plum preserves (confiture de Mirabelles) 

1/2 cup dry white wine (Sancerre) or dry rose (Coteaux de Langedoc)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup Carthagene or Pineau des Charantes (ou quelques choses comme ca)

1 tablespoon Thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon of dried Thyme

2 tablespoons good olive oil

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Remove skin and debone chicken breasts - cut into four long strips (two from each half of the breast)

Dust strips with 4 spice powder and salt - allow to stand and come to room temperature before cooking

Heat pan to medium high - put oil in pan - lightly brown on all sides the chicken strips - set aside on warm plate

Saute onion, celery and carrot in the pan - when softened but not browned add wine and liqueur to deglaze pan - scraping with a wooden implement.

Dissolve the plum preserves in the stock and add to the pan - raise heat to reduce the total liquid by 1/2

Return the chicken strips to the pan to cook them through - turn them in the pan frequently until they are firm to the touch but not rigid - you can use a meat thermometer if you are not sure.   Remove them to heated dish while reducing the liquid to a thick glaze over high heat.   You can cut into the chicken and if the inside seems a bit pink return them to the pan.   When sauce is thickened to desired degree, pour over resting chicken strips and serve.

Cooking chicken in these two steps with a bit of a rest while the sauce reduces further and then being sauced with the liquid produces good results if you watch it carefully.   It's one of the few ways to cook skinless chicken breasts without drying them out.

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Variations

Carthagene is, like Pineau des Charentes and Floc, a regional liquor that uses a small proportion of the typical local distilled spirit with new wine grapes for a brief aging in oak (about a year) to produce a rather sweet after dinner drink.  In the case of the Languedoc region, the eau-de-vie of the local distillerie cooperative is the spirit that is blended with the new grapes.  Pineau des Charentes uses cognac and Floc uses armagnac.  Floc and Carthagene tend to be earthier than the Pineau since they contain liquor of a single rather than double distillation.

Quantities can be increased proportionately without any problem as long as you can cook all of the chicken breast strips at the same time.  This can be done in multiple pans with the cooking through done in a single, high-sided sauce pan with the stock.

This same dish replacing the preserves and liquor with additional wine is also very nice. 

This combination of seasonings also works well with chicken thigh, duck breast or guinea hen breast.