Recipe #4: Butter-fried chicken breast fillet on creamy garlic mushroom pasta with Pinot Noir

Before today, most of my favourite home-cooked meals were either very spicy or incredibly rich. Never had I imagined that plain chicken breast fillets could be so tasty and delectable.

Also, I usually prefer my pasta simple (such as in olive oil), sans creamy carbonara-type sauces.

Then I discovered that if you add red wine *and* cream, you get a wonderfully subtle yet complex sauce. Not to mention sublimely aromatic!

So here it is, one of my favourite home-cooked meals to date:

Ingredients

• Chicken breast fillet
• Unsalted butter
• Garlic
• Fresh mushrooms
• White onions
• Pinot Noir
• Fresh cream
• Pasta
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Parsley

Pasta
Bring to boil water in a pot, add pasta, salt and olive oil. Allow to simmer until pasta is cooked.

Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pinot Noir Sauce
Melt a generous chunk of butter in a fry-pan and add chopped white onions and garlic. Allow to simmer slowly until garlic and onions become soft and start to brown. Sprinkle some salt to slow cooking.
Place chicken breast fillet in pan, while moving garlic and onions aside. Cook chicken in simmering butter, tilting pan slightly to allow butter to soak into chicken (especially if it is a thick chunky piece). Keep heat low, as butter will over-brown quickly if too hot. Gradually, chicken fillet will begin to turn golden brown. Turn it over to brown evenly.
Clear a space and add fresh mushrooms. Spread evenly in a single layer over fry-pan and cook until they brown.
As butter sauce thickens and becomes brown, almost dry even, add a dash of Pinot Noir. Be careful not to pour too much wine at once. Again, allow to simmer and turn over chicken so that it absorbs the wine.
When the wine sauce thickens, add another dash of Pinot Noir. Tilt pan to allow wine to soak chicken.
Now, you're ready to add some fresh cream. Stir the sauce, adding salt and pepper to taste.

To Serve
Toss in cooked pasta into fry-pan with creamy wine sauce and turn heat to high. Quickly mix garlic and onions in sauce, then turn down heat while continuously stirring. By now, everything should be golden brown and the aromas will tell you it's ready to serve! Toss in some chopped parsley for contrast.

This time, I had Louis Latour La Chanfleure Chablis (2008), which complemented the meal perfectly. *Sigh*

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