Sauteed Chicken Breasts with a Wild Mushroom Crust and Paprika Mushroom Cream Sauce

I have had a VERY productive foraging season this Fall. It started with Chicken of the Woods we found while on the San Juan Cruise filming episode ONE and still continues as I write this.

As a result, I am continually looking for new and unique ways to use my little fungi friends. Typically, when I use any kind of exotic mushroom, like Shiitake, Porcini or even Chanterelles, I’ll trim off the stems and dry them, or even dry the whole parts of the mushrooms sliced.

What can you do with dried mushrooms? Well, a whole LOT of things, but today I’ll focus on what I did with my chicken. I ground the mushrooms up in my food processor, mixed the resulting mushroom powder with fresh (not dried) sourdough breadcrumbs and seasonings and used that to crust my chicken.

A wet coating is needed to keep the crumbs on the chicken, and in this case, it’s a mixture of whole grain mustard (I prefer Maille brand) and egg whites to “glue” the mushroom breading to the chicken before sauteeing it in a hot pan. Pop the in the oven to finish cooking.

The final touch was a creamy Paprika sauce that uses the juices from the sauteed chicken, onion, some more sliced fresh mushrooms (I used both Shittake and Chanties in this version, but any nice ‘shroom will do!). Deglaze the pan with sherry wine (yes, you can use the cheap “cooking sherry”) and, add cream and reduce until thickened and creamy!

When the chicken was thoroughly cooked (165 degrees, internally), take it out of the oven and let it rest for a minute while you adjust the seasoning on the sauce, as needed. For my final plating, I sliced the chicken to show off the nice crusting and served it with a simple butter-sauteed spinach with garlic for color and contrast.

https://amzn.to/32qjUvkIf you can’t find your own mushrooms or aren’t able to dry them, it’s ok…you can buy them already dried. There’s a good selection to choose from but a mix of porcini (not all porcini for the chicken…it’s pretty heady but it’s AWESOME for steak) and dried oysters or Shiitakes are nice. You can also make life super-simple and order some online, like this blend from The Wild Mushroom Company which has a little of everything yummy in it!

Best part of this dish…it takes NO time to make. So, you can have an elegant, flavorful meal that knocks your socks off and it’s done in less than 45 minutes! Give it a shot and let me know how you like it!

NOTE: IF you want to make a keto version of this recipe, just substitute an equal amount of pork rinds ground up for the bread crumbs. You will need to a be careful with the salt level, however, as pork rinds are already inherently salty.

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5 from 1 vote

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with a Wild Mushroom Crust & Paprika Cream Sauce

A unique dish using ground wild mushrooms to coat chicken and serving it with a creamy paprika sauce

Course: Entree

Keyword: chicken breasts, creamy mushroom sauce, easy chicken dinner, foraging wild mushrooms, paprika, Rub with Love, sauteed chicken, smoked paprika, Tom Douglas, wild mushroom crust

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Corinne Gregory Sharpe

Ingredients

Wild Mushroom Crust

• 1/3 cup dried wild mushrooms
• 3/4 cup fresh sourdough bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika such as Tom Douglas' Rub with Love line
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Chicken

• 2 egg whites
• 4 Tbsp whole grain mustard such as Maille brand
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Paprika Cream

• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp paprika sweet or hot, depending on preference
• 1/2 cup sherry wine
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

To coat chicken

• Place dried mushrooms in a food processor and grind them into a fine powder. In a shallow bowl, combine mushroom powder, sourdough bread crumbs, paprika, garlic powder and pepper.
• In another shallow bowl, combine mustard and egg whites, whisking to blend. Coat the chicken on all sides with the mustard/egg white mixture then dredge the chicken in the coating mixture, making sure to coat all sides. Set aside, ideally on a rack, until all four chicken breasts have been coated.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In a large, non-stick skillet or saute pan, heat the oil until shimmery. Add chicken and brown on all sides, being careful not to disturb breading when turning. When all chicken have been browned, place them on a sheet pan and back in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken has an internal temperature of 160°.

For Paprika Cream

• While chicken is baking in the oven, add a little more oil to the saute pan, if needed and saute onions and shiitake mushrooms over medium heat until wilted, but not brown. Sprinkle the onion and mushroom mixture with the extra paprika.
• Deglaze the pan with the sherry wine. Reduce wine mixture by half, then add the heavy cream. Reduce sauce until thickened. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, as desired.
• Serve sauce with the chicken, either sliced or as a whole breast.

Notes

NOTE: IF you want to make a keto version of this recipe, just substitute an equal amount of pork rinds ground up for the bread crumbs. You will need to a be careful with the salt level, however, as pork rinds are already inherently salty.