Saut'eed Curried Chicken Breasts with a Tarragon Butter sauce

This is a Thomas Keller Recipe, from his book, ad hoc at home, Fantastic!

Feeds Six.



1 tbs sweet paprika

1 tbs Maddras curry powder

6 organic chicken breasts

sea salt and black pepper

olive oil

3 Tbs butter

1 Tbs minced shallot

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 Tbs chopped tarragon, plus some whole leaves for garnish



Mix together the curry and paprika in a small bowl. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.



Lay 2 pieces of chicken at a time, on a large piece of plastic wrap, cover with a second piece of plastic wrap, and, using a meat pounder, pound to about 1/4" thick. Transfer to plate Repeat with the remaining chicken.



Preheat oven to 200*F. Set a cooling rack on a baking sheet. Season the chicken on both sides with Salt. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan over medium - high heat. Working in batches, without crowding, add the chicken to the pan, (smooth) side down, and cook. The smooth side is your presentation side, only turn once! Cook until golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for the same amount of time. Transfer to the rack and keep warm in the oven. Add oil as needed as you cook the remaining chicken...

Pour out any remaining oil from the pan and wipe out any burned bits. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter, over medium - high heat. Add the shallot to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 30 seconds, swirling the pan to coat the shallot with butter. Pour in the wine, and increase the heat to medium - high, and cook until the wine has reduced by half. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, and cook until slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in the chopped tarragon, and the remaining butter, and any juices that accumulated on the baking sheet and swirl to melt the butter. Don't try to melt the butter with high heat, the sauce will break. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the chicken on a platter, pour the sauce over it and garnish with whole tarragon leaves.



Bon Appetit...