Eat Me Like One of Your French Girls

I am always looking for inspiration in my cooking. Not just for the website, but for my everyday life. Believe it or not, I don’t typically cook shit for myself. I eat black beans all the time for dinner because it’s easy. Or Chinese take out.

In an effort to get some inspiration, I read a book about French cooking. (Hi France, I love you!) It didn’t really state anything I didn’t already know (aside from the recipes themselves). Basically, just use awesome, in-season ingredients with full flavors. Duh.

So I went to the store last week, determined to find some great mushrooms since I’m super excited about fall. I mean, there weren’t any. I settled for some portobellos anyway because I was in the mood. (You guys should totally seek out some earthier ones and make me jealous.) I grabbed some sage and some chicken and I went on my merry way.

I wanted to take another page out of this book and use some wine. But lets be real here, I don’t really keep much wine around the house. I’m fully a beer girl. So I grabbed a nice roasty black IPA to match the warm flavors of the sage and cloves I was planning on using.

It’s not really much of a story… just that I encourage you all to do the same. Things always taste better when they use in-season ingredients and when the recipe comes from a place of excitement for the food. I’m going to stop being a food slut now. Enjoy!

Silky, Savory Goodness

Eat Me Like One of Your French Girls
Sage and Black IPA Chicken with Mushrooms and Crème Fraîche
serves 2

2 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless
10 oz mushrooms of your choice, cleaned and quartered
2 tbsp butter
2 shallots
1 tsp garlic
20 sage leaves, chopped
1/4th  tsp ground cloves
salt and pepper
½ cup black ipa
2 tsp whole grain mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 heaping tbsp crème fraîche

Wash and trim chicken breasts, pat dry. Salt and pepper both sides, set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in shallots and garlic and cook for a minute or two until the shallots soften and the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the sage and ground cloves and push mixture to one side of the pan.

Turn the heat up to medium-high. In the clear section of the pan, place your chicken breasts. In the shalloty-side of the pan, stir your mushrooms into the yumminess.

Cook chicken for about 3-4 minutes. Flip. Cook for another 3 minutes. Continue to stir the mushrooms.

At this point, whisk together the beer, whole grain mustard and lemon juice. Pour over the chicken and mushrooms. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. The liquid will have reduced considerably in the end.

Serve hot with a dollop of crème fraîche. Pour extra sauce over the chicken and mushrooms.