Chicken In Puff Pastry With Madeira Sauce

This is a special occasion recipe that is not all that difficult to make and is very elegant to serve. The pastry bundles can be made up in advance and refrigerated in which case the baking time might need to be extended. The prep time does not reflect the refrigeration time for the chicken breasts.

Steps

Preheat broiler.

Place chicken breasts on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.

Broil until almost cooked through , about 4 minutes per side.

Chill until cool , about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375^f.

In a large nonstick saucepan , saute spinach over medium heat until just wilted , about 3 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl.

In the same skillet , melt butter over medium high heat and add shallots.

Saute until tender , about 3 minutes.

Add all of the mushrooms and saute until beginning to soften , about 2 minutes.

Add wine and tarragon and simmer until almost all of the liquid has evaporated , about 7 minutes.

Season and cool.

Oil a large heavy baking sheet.

Roll out each sheet of puff pastry to 12 inch squares.

Cut each square in half crosswise to form four 12x6 inch rectangles.

Place chicken breasts crosswise at the short end of the rectangle.

Spoon the spinach on top of chicken.

Spoon mushroom mixture on top of spinach.

Fold long sides of rectangle over chicken .

Ingredients

boneless skinless chicken breast halves, fresh spinach, butter, shallot, fresh shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, dry red wine, dried tarragon, puff pastry sheets, egg, shallots, flour, reduced-sodium chicken broth, beef broth, madeira wine