Pan-Seared Chicken with Cranberry Tarragon Sauce (and the Chicken Whisperer)

You've heard of the dog-whisperer and the horse-whisperer, I take it? Well, I joke that my husband is the "Chicken-Whisperer" of our house. He is in all sense of the word, a chicken "enthusiast". He  a) loves chicken (really, really loves chicken) and b) cooks chicken quite well (without leaving the meat dry as I may have done on (a few) occasions.

If you're a Chicken-Whisperer or have a loved one who is, then you understand how hard it is to come up with exciting, new chicken recipes. As versatile as it is, I find it difficult to get away from making the same dishes in my "circulation". Imagine then how excited I was when I happened upon a recent Home and Garden specialty magazine named "Chicken Dinners"?  The question really was: "How excited was my hubby?" - oh, just a tad.

Giddy with poultry-induced endorphins, he grabbed the magazine and quickly began flipping through it . "Yup!, I could eat that.", "Oh wait, I want that too.", "Oooohhhhh. Gimme!" Clearly, the hardest decision would be which one to try first. Ha.

A beautiful picture caught my eye and as we all know (all together now) "Our...Eyes...Eat... First." : j That recipe turned out to be - Pan-Seared Chicken with Cherry Tarragon Sauce and Cous-Cous. Unfortunately, without any cherries in sight at the grocery store we improvised with cranberries instead. The result I think was unique, delicious and will definitely get a permanent spot in our dinner rotation.

Pan-Seared Chicken with Cranberry Tarragon Sauce and Cous-Cous

Here is the inspired recipe (slightly modified from the original recipe from BHG):

Ingredients

• 1/4cup all-purpose flour
• 2teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1teaspoon dry mustard
• 8skinless chicken thighs
• 2tablespoons olive oil
• 2cups fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed if frozen
• 2tablespoons snipped fresh tarragon
• 3cloves garlic, minced
• 1cup dry red wine or cranberry juice
• 1/2cup chicken broth
• 2tablespoons butter
• 2cups hot cooked couscous, rice, or pasta 

Directions

1.  In a shallow dish combine flour, paprika, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2. Coat chicken with flour mixture.
3.  In a 12-inch skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium to medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, turning once. (this time varies especially if you are using bone-in thighs)
4. Remove from pan. Cover; keep warm.
5. Add cherries, tarragon, and garlic to the same skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1 minute.
6. Stir in juice and broth. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce is reduced to about 2 cups. Stir in butter until melted. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
7. To serve, spoon sauce over chicken and serve with couscous. 
8. If desired, sprinkle with additional fresh tarragon. Makes 4 servings

Before : bright, fresh cranberries and tarragon

After : finishing the rich, thick and savory tarragon-infused cranberry sauce with a pat of butter

Quick! get a napkin. You're drooling...