The boneless skinless chicken breast – at least for me – is usually dry, tasteless, and boring. This recipe makes it into something special.

Long before everyone started to jump on the sous vide band wagon, poaching was something that was fairly common place. Today it seems so dated to use this kind of cooking method, but it works really well on fish and cuts like boneless chicken breasts.

Unlike sous vide, where most of the time ingredients are cooked just by themselves, poaching allows you to vary not only the cooking liquid but also the seasonings. This is a fairly common “poaching” way to cook chicken breasts but the addition of jalapeño gives it a spicy, herbal, and Texas perspective.

2 whole chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

3 to 4 cups of whole milk (enough to cover the chicken breasts in your pan)

3 strips of lime zest

2 to 3 smashed whole cloves of garlic

1 1/2 tbs chicken seasoning

1/2 medium jalapeno, sliced in strips

4 tarragon leaves plus more for garnish

1 tbs Dijon mustard

2 cups frozen English peas, thawed

1/2 to 1 cup Mexican crema or sour cream, to taste and thickness

4 to 5 cups wide egg noodles, cooked

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the milk in large pan until just slightly has occasional bubbles. If available, use a candy thermometer to keep the temperature around 195 degrees F.

Add the chicken breasts, lime zest, garlic, chicken seasoning, jalapeño, and tarragon leaves. Slowly poach the chicken, turning over occasionally, until the internal temperature measures 160F on a meat thermometer. This will vary in time on the size of your pan.

Remove the chicken and strain the milk poaching liquid reserving 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the the milk mixture. Whisk in the Dijon mustard, Mexican crema, and the English peas in the reserved poaching liquid. You can vary the amount of crema to the your preferred thickness for the sauce. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper as necessary.

Slice the chicken breasts across the grain and return to the sauce mixture.

Serve over prepared wide egg noodles.

#poach #chicken #eggnoodles #jalapeno #mexicancrema