You know, there are some recipes you’re almost too embarrassed to tell anyone about because they’re so simple they hardly seem worth the effort. Such is the case with Mustard Chicken. I started making this for Mark when we were newlyweds in Reno, Nevada. How we got to Reno from the South is a long story but the bottom line is, I was shocked to discover that there were no homegrown tomatoes, proper grits, country ham or pulled pork barbecue. In short, all my comfort foods had vanished as I crossed the prairie. Actually, they vanished one night in Lawrence, Kansas, when I asked the waitress for unsweet ice tea and she didn’t even know there was such a thing as sweet tea.

The great thing about Reno, however, was that you could buy liquor in grocery stores. There were even little old ladies giving out samples of martinis. I knew I’d found a place I could call home, at least temporarily. And before we moved into our house, we did our laundry at a place called the Duds and Suds, which not only had a bar but also slot machines. Reno has a lot to recommend it.

But I digress. So I was trying to find some kind of food that would at least allude to comfort and I stumbled across a recipe in a bed and breakfast cookbook for Mustard Chicken. I’m sure it was called something else and, quite honestly, I’ve now forgotten where I even got the recipe because I’ve committed it to memory and have made it probably 348 times over the years. Maybe 349.

This is Mark’s favorite thing to eat. It tops steak, even, and that’s almost a miracle. I know it doesn’t look very pretty in the photo and, truth be told, it’s not. I supposed I could sprinkleDSCN0607 some parsley over it but that would just be completely unnecessary and a waste of good parsley.

Mustard Chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (if you can find the Purdue Perfect Portion chicken breasts, these are ideal)

1 8-ounce container sour cream (don’t ask if you can make it with reduced fat sour cream – no you can’t)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons honey

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and saute them in a little vegetable oil over medium heat until lightly browned. Remove from the pan. Drain off any excess oil.

Return the skillet to the stove, still over medium heat, and add the sour cream, mustard and honey. Mix them up well and then add the chicken back in. That’s it!

Notes: You might want to have extra sour cream, mustard and honey on hand because if the chicken breasts are large, you’re going to need more sauce! Just mix up the sauce until it tastes the way you want. Sometimes I add more mustard and honey.

Now, here’s the thing. I think you must serve this over buttered egg noodles. Liberally buttered. With real butter, naturally. For some reason, I always serve peas with Mustard Chicken. Doesn’t that make it healthy? Yes, I think it does.

4 Comments

  1. Betsy Everett
    November 5, 2009 at 12:08 am

    I literally laughed out loud when I read the part about Duds & Suds with the bar and the slot machine. Reno does have some good qualities.

  2. Louise Silverstein
    Louise SilversteinReply
    November 5, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    So Cath,
    I can continue copy and pasteing all your recipes, but when will you publish YOUR cookbook?

  3. April 15, 2010 at 12:57 am

    […] inordinate amounts of time cooking because I had nothing else to do. But a happy result of that is Mustard Chicken, a recipe I got out of a bed and breakfast cookbook I took out at the library. It is by far […]

  4. October 23, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    […] loading up on restorative food to erase the horror of last night. Supper will be his favorite dish, mustard chicken. And then German chocolate cake for dessert, not just like his mother used to make because I got it […]

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