Delux, Devine, Chicken Devan

This is a Rachael Ray recipe that she did on a 30 Minute Meals episode. I am a fan of Chicken Devan, and liked the way she adjusted this to not be so casserole-y. (Yes, that's a word). All the recipes I have for Chicken Devan, while good, make a ton. And as a single girl who's not a fan of left overs, they really don't work too well for me.

It should also be mentioned I didn't make the rice the way she suggests below for two reasons: 1) I didn't have any lemon and 2) making rice on the stove lately has been an issue for me so I resorted to a mini rice cooker. Which doesn't mean I couldn't have made it this way in the rice cooker, I just chose to make plain old rice.

Deluxe, Divine, Chicken Devan
Serves 4

• 1/3 cup Sliced almonds
• 1 quart Chicken stock
• 1 Lemon, zested
• 2 sprigs Fresh thyme
• 4 tablespoons Butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups White rice
• 8 Chicken cutlets
• 1 teaspoon Poultry seasoning
• 2 tablespoons Plus 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 pound Fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 7 large Button mushroom, sliced
• 1/3 cup Half and half
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Scallion, chopped

Toast almonds in a small skillet until golden. Set aside. Bring 2 3/4 cups chicken stock, the zest of 1 lemon, thyme sprigs and a tablespoon of butter to a boil in a medium pot with a tight fitting lid. Add rice to water, stir. Return the water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and cove the pot. Cook 18 minutes or until tender, remove from heat. Remove the thyme sprigs, the leaves will have fallen off in the rice.

While the rice cooks, season chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Dredge chicken in about half cup of flour then discard the rest. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, and 1 tablespoon butter to the large skillet. To the hot butter and oil, add the cutlets and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove the meat to a large platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Bring an inch or 2 of water to a simmer in a shallow pan and season with salt. Add asparagus and cook 4 minutes until just tender but green. Remove and add to chicken platter to keep warm.

Return chicken skillet to the heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. Melt butter, add the mushrooms and sauté for a couple of minutes. Whisk in 2 rounded tablespoons flour. Cook the flour 1 minute then whisk in 1/3 cup white wine, a couple of glugs. Cook off wine, 30 seconds, then whisk in 1 1/4 cups of chicken stock (remainder of the quart) then the half-and-half. When sauce bubbles, stir in mustard and tarragon and let sauce simmer and thicken 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir scallions into rice and fluff with fork. Make a bed of rice on each dinner plate. Top with a serving of steamed asparagus then 2 cutlets of chicken. Cover the chicken with the tarragon sauce, allowing the gravy to spill over edges into asparagus and rice. Sprinkle the plates with toasted nuts.