Chicken and Egg Noodles with Wine Sauce

Want to save at least $20? The next time you arrive home harried and needing to get dinner on the table in under a half hour, save the $20 you'd have spent on the pizza delivery and make this quick, but company worthy dinner instead. Oh, and did I mention that it cooks in a single skillet thereby making clean up an under 30 minute deal as well? The trick is to always have boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer (that's what the defrost button on the microwave is for) and a bag of egg noodles in the pantry. The other ingredients are staples.

 Serves 4
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4 lbs), cut crosswise into 1/4 inch strips
salt and pepper
2 tbs unsalted butter
2 shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
8 oz egg noodles
3 tbs heavy cream (I used fat free half and half)
2 tbs minced fresh tarragon
*I added 1 cup cooked  baby peas to DSO's portion.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.

Add shallots to the same skillet and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits of fond, until pan is nearly dry, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth and noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender and liquid has been absorbed, 8-10 minutes.

Stir in cream, tarragon, and chicken, along with any accumulated chicken juices and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
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TASTE NOTES
It was amazing how good this simple dish tasted. It proves that a few, well-chosen ingredients can elevate the most simple preparation. The milder flavor of the shallots combined with a small amount of white wine yielded big taste. Cooking the egg noodles right in the same skillet not only saves on clean up, but also adds a bit of starch to the wine sauce. By deglazing the pan and using butter and cream, there's just a bit of richness to this simple sauce.(If you don't like tarragon, try chives instead.) I froze one portion in a zip lock freezer bag and the other portion made a lovely lunch for DSO the next day. I spent all the time I saved quilting and the $20 on a manicure. Life is good.