Chicken (Or Pork) With Whole Grain Mustard Cream Sauce

This recipe comes from Chef Jim Ruch, a boat chef from Florida who travels all over the world cooking on various size yachts for all sorts of interesting people. I will use the word "chicken" generically here, but this recipe is very versatile. You can create new versions just by changing some of the ingredients while using the same cooking technique. Not only is this recipe great with chicken breasts, it can be used with pork or fish too with a few minor adjustments.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 3 (8 ounce)  chicken breasts (Approx. each, or use pork equivalent)
• 2  tablespoons ground coriander
• 1⁄2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (Adjust to your own taste)
• 3  tablespoons fresh thyme
• 2  teaspoons sea salt
• 3  garlic cloves, minced (or chopped)
•  extra virgin olive oil
• 1  medium onion, finely diced
• 1  cup heavy cream
• 3  tablespoons  whole grain mustard
• 1  cup white wine

Directions

1. To make the marinade, combine the coriander, red pepper, thyme and sea salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix olive oil in a bowl with garlic. Add the chicken and toss with your hands to cover with the marinate. Add 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves, toss and transfer to a sealed container or zip lock bag to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. 30 minutes before cooking, remove the chicken from the fridge.
3. Pre-heat your sauté pan to medium high. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the hot pan. Make sure the pan surface is completely coated by tilting the pan back and forth. When the pan starts to smoke just a little bit, it is ready.
4. Carefully add the chicken to the pan and lower the heat to medium. Because this is a cream sauce, you don’t want to sear the meat too dark or caramelize the onions too brown. This prevents the drippings from giving the sauce too dark a color.
5. Sauté the chicken 2 minutes per side until golden brown and transfer to a plate. Discard any excess oil in the pan leaving just a little to cook the onions. Add the onions and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves and cook gently until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
6. Add 1/2 cup of white wine and using a wooden spoon or wooden spatula, scrape any drippings stuck to the pan. (Deglazing) Reduce this liquid to a syrup and add another 1/2 cup of wine. Reduce the additional wine to an essence and add 1/2 the heavy cream. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the cream and onions until reduced by half.
7. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream and the whole grain mustard. Using your wooden spoon, stir until the sauce is completely incorporated. Now add your remaining fresh thyme leaves. Adjust the seasonings, add the chicken and any accumulated juices back to the pan and cover.
8. Simmer, turning once until completely cooked.