French Chicken and Root Vegetables

Whew!! I am finally able to put up a new post. Blogger has been blocking me out for days now...I couldn't get to my own blogs or comment on my friend's blogs from my home computer. It is very frustrating. I don't know if they got it all fixed now...but I think I am still having trouble commenting on some blogs. I could do this from some other computers, so I don't know what's going on. But here I am now!

This post was long overdue and to Bo I do apologize for the delay. I was absolutely thrilled when Bo from Bo's Bowl notified my that I was the winner of a 3 1/2 qt. Le Creuset Fennel Wide Oval French Oven on his blog giveaway!!

I love it! I have always wanted one, but haven't been able to get it just yet! Did I tell you I was so happy?!!

I can't believe how lucky I have been...just look how pretty it is. I know this will get a lot of use, and look pretty doing it's job in the kitchen. Did I tell you how excited I was to win this?!!

I have used this several times already, but for the first meal I did make a French style chicken and root vegetables to break it in properly. It is so nice you can brown the meat in this pan and finish it in the oven, or as I did, finish it stove top.
I used chicken thighs and I had a couple of boneless chicken breasts so I threw them in there too.

2 tablespoons oil for browning
1 large shallot chopped
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence (I used Penzey's)
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup broth
handful of fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine (optional)
3 tablespoons cream or half and half

Wash and pat dry chicken on med-high heat pan with a little oil, season chicken with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence and brown chicken on each side. I added the thighs first because they were bone in and would cook a little longer than the boneless breasts.

Turn down to med heat and add the shallots and cook for a few minutes, squeeze the lemon juice over it then add garlic, mushrooms and broth, cover and simmer for 40 - 45 minutes until done. You could finish in the oven if you prefer. You can add the root vegetables and cook them with the chicken, but I didn't want to crowd my new pan just yet I had to get the feel for it.

Remove chicken from the pan and skim the chicken fat off. On low heat add wine
and cook until the alcohol cooks off (or skip it) add dijon and cream stirring until well blended, cook until heated through. Serve over chicken.

Yum! This was so good with the root vegetables and veggie noodles. So simple yet so good! I was going to post the veggies here too, but it has taken me forever!!! So next post you'll see how easy it is to do the veggies.

Did I tell you how much I love this Le Creuset French oven?!! Thanks Bo!