Mom Can Supervise

It’s hard for me to stay out of the kitchen, even on Mother’s Day. But if I can persuade my family to join me there, my day truly will be special.

Here’s one way to do it: an easy, elegant chicken recipe--perfect for a Mother’s Day meal--that the whole family can make. You may even be able to step back from the real work.

Younger children will need a hand, though. Start them out by placing several chicken breasts in a resealable plastic bag. Let the younger kids pound the chicken with a meat mallet.

Use your food processor to chop the herbs and combine with the butter to save time. Originally I used to tie the chicken bundles with kitchen twine, but wooden skewers or long toothpicks are much quicker.

Maybe your family will enjoy cooking you a meal so much that this won’t happen just on Mother’s Day.

Poulet aux Fines Herbes

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

2 teaspoons dried fines herbes

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)

1/2 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound egg noodles

1 pound green beans

2 tablespoons chopped chives

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Bring a pot of water for the green beans to boil as well.

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Meanwhile, combine the butter and fines herbes in a bowl; set aside. Place 1 chicken breast at a time in a resealable plastic bag and pound it to flatten slightly. Place a chicken breast on a work surface and place 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture in the center. Put 1/4 of the Gruyere cheese on top of the butter. Tuck the sides in the long way, then roll up the breast from the short end and insert a wooden skewer to hold it secure. Finish with the remaining chicken breasts. Save the remainder of the butter mixture for the noodles.

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Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Place the 4 breasts seam side down in the skillet and cook until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes, then turn them and cook until the other side is golden brown, another 4 minutes. Place the skillet in the oven and cook the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 7 to 10 minutes, being careful to insert the thermometer into the chicken and not the hot butter center.

When the chicken goes into the oven, add the noodles to the boiling water and cook them according to package directions. Add the green beans to the second pot and cook until tender-crisp, 6 to 7 minutes. Drain and toss them with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Keep them warm.

Drain the noodles, stir in the chives and the rest of the butter mixture, then arrange the noodles in the center of each of 4 plates. Remove the skewers from the chicken and slice each breast into 4 to 5 pieces. Divide the pieces among the plates, placing them on top of the noodles, and serve with the green beans.

4 servings. Each serving: 763 calories; 676 mg sodium; 203 mg cholesterol; 51 grams fat; 20 grams saturated fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 45 grams protein; 4.79 grams fiber.

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MENU

Poulet aux Fines Herbes

Buttered Chive Noodles

Green Beans

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SHOPPING LIST

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bunch chives

Gruyere cheese

1 pound green beans

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STAPLES

Butter

Egg noodles

Dried fines herbes

Dried thyme

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GAME PLAN

30 minutes before: Start water for noodles and green beans. Rinse and pound chicken.

20 minutes before: Fill, roll and skewer chicken. Cook chicken and place in oven.

10 minutes before: Cook noodles. Cook green beans.

5 minutes before: Drain noodles, mix in chives and butter mixture. Remove chicken from oven. Slice into pieces. Arrange noodles, chicken and green beans on a serving plate.