Monday, April 19, 2010

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooked Chicken


I finally got to use my pressure cooker where I intended to, aboard Pegasus, our 32 ft sailboat. I’ve used it several times at home, but the great thing about a pressure cooker is that it cooks so fast. On a boat, fuel is precious so any cutbacks in cooking time can save a lot. During a trip through the Okeechobee Waterway, I whipped up some chicken in red wine with garlic and tarragon and it turned out fantastic. And it only took 6 minutes to cook!! At anchor after a long day of motoring, we celebrated happy hour with a Milbrandt Vineyards Riesling from Washington. It was a nice dry Riesling, perfect for the cockpit. The wind picked up and chilled us down so we went below to prepare dinner. We opened a bottle of the Carmenere from Chile that I talked about in my previous blog. It complimented the meal fabulously. Our first night on the boat we had a bottle of wine from Chile, now a new beginning, we were celebrating with another bottle from Chile.

So I am going to share with you my EASY and QUICK recipe. If you have a pressure cooker, wonderful! If you don’t, you can just cook it longer on low heat in a stove pot, or even a crock pot for a few hours. I never use tarragon, but it is such a bright herb, adding so much flavor to this dish that it makes me want to use it more often.







Quick Chicken with Garlic, Tarragon and Red Wine
Serves 2

2 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, halved
2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon plus extra for garnish
1 cup dry red wine
2 tbsp butter

Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over high heat until beginning to smoke. Add the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper and turn to coat. Add the garlic, tarragon and red wine. Lock on the lid and bring to pressure over high heat, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 2 minutes to finish cooking.

With the steam vent pointed away from you, release any remaining pressure. Transfer chicken to a serving platter, cover and set aside.

Reduce the juices left in the pot over high heat for 2 minutes. Swirl in the butter and pour over the chicken. Garnish with extra tarragon.



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