Due to certain reasons, which I shall divulge shortly, I’ve never really been the biggest fan of mustard.  Though a staple with a baseball game hot dog, I would tend to defer to the red stuff, ketchup, on my ball park frank.  In fact, I even avoid the color yellow in my wardrobe.  I own not a single piece of clothing in the color.  But this recipe changed all that for me.  It is seriously the simplest, quickest and tastiest dinner ever!  Served with a side of mashed potatoes or rice pilaf and something green (a nice steamed broccoli or a dressed mixed leaf salad) and you are good to go.  Very helpful on a busy Monday, especially the week of Halloween when there are tons of last minute errands to run!

The thing about this recipe is that you literally only need four ingredients.  However, the key is you have to get the proper type of mustard as it is the star of the show.  That can be tough as there are so many varieties on the market these days.  And considering that mustard is thought to be one of the world’s oldest condiments it is understandable.  Some chefs swear by mustard as their go to ingredient for everything from sauces to salad dressings.  Famed British chef Nigel Slater is quoted as saying, “Almost anything is edible with a dab of French mustard on it.”  Can I emphasize, as I am now a resident of the U.K., it is massive for a Brit to say that about something from France.

Mention the word mustard to some people and they usually fall into one of three camps: French, English or American.  In fact, for some maniacal mustard fans, there is even a Mustard Manual.  Check it out for yourself if you are a yellow hued yoke!

Even if you aren’t so nuts about mustard that you have to know every detail, you can still enjoy this recipe tonight!  And if you make enough to have left overs, it is tasty as a warmed sambo, like an Italian meatball Sub type.  Only this is lighter since it is made with poultry.  You can also put it on a wholewheat roll to make that bit healthier.

Ingredients:

Skinless boneless chicken breasts (I use free range and organic)

Dijon French Mustard

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

French’s Crunchy Onions (if you can’t find this in your supermarket you can make them yourself by following this recipe which also happens to be gluten free)

*I deliberately left out the amounts. You can make two chicken breasts or more depending on how many servings you want. Just increase the amounts of mustard, onions and cheese you need to accommodate.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Grate some Parmesan Cheese on the bottom of an oven proof baking dish.  Spread a generous tablespoon or more of mustard all over each of the chicken on both sides.  Place on top of the grated cheese in the baking dish.  Grate more cheese on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with the Crispy Onions.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove the foil.  Bake another 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the Crispy Onions are browned.

I like to serve this on top of mashed potatoes. Then when you cut into it and have a “combo bite” of chicken and the mash, you get the perfect balance of flavor and textures.  It is so delicious!  The Parmesan mellows out the mustard and the onions add that bit of crunch to make it totally and completely Yummer-ific!

 

So the story goes that my mom and dad used to have rip roaring fights. The kind that sent us kids to hide under our beds or in the closets.  On one occasion, like many, things started to go flying around the kitchen.  I heard a few crashes and bangs and then silence.  That was a sign that it was safe to re-enter.  What I saw was a mound of yellow mustard dripping down the wall like a Jackson Pollock painting.  Thank God many varieties of mustard now come in plastic bottles!  So while I may only use the Dijon variety myself for this recipe, I have come to appreciate one other form of the color yellow.  It is in fact a song by the band Coldplay.  However, this is actually a version done by an all female choir from Belgium called Scala.  It is quite haunting and beautiful.  My favorite line “look at the stars, look how they shine for you”.

I hope you try this recipe and it shines for you.  And thanks for being a star and following along with me on this journey!

Yellow Mellow Mustard Love!

YDP