Remember What Would Brian Boitano Make? I actually enjoyed watching that show but I guess not enough people did. Give this recipe a try because I know you won't be disappointed...even if the show was a little corny. You know, sometimes, I like corny and silly and not so serious. Wish they would bring back this show!
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until brown and crispy about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with a paper towel.
To the same skillet add the onions and carrots and saute until they are soft and onions are translucent. While the veggies cook, add the flour to a glass baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
To the same skillet add 3 tablespoons olive oil, add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Saute the mushrooms until browned, about 8 minutes and remove to the baking sheet with the onions.
Shake off any excess flour from the chicken and put on a plate. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet and add the chicken. Cook the chicken until browned, about 6 minutes and transfer to the baking sheet.
Turn the heat to medium and add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes and deglaze the pan with 3/4 of the bottle of wine, making sure to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. While the wine comes to a simmer, add the thyme, chicken, mushrooms and onions and let simmer for 3 minutes. If sauce is too thick add remaining red wine. Add butter, taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
Drain the pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with the chicken and wine sauce. Garnish with the parsley, pancetta and a drizzle of the remaining olive oil.
I started going through my chicken recipes that I saved in my google reader when I realized that we've been eating a huge amount of pasta lately. I found this recipe for sweet and sour chicken that I saved from Brown Eyed Baker. I've said before that I think chinese food has been he most difficult cuisine for me to try to recreate at home. This recipe looked so easy so I thought why not give it a try. As I was preparing it I was a little overwhelmed by the smell of the ketchup. Did not seem or smell very asian to me. Luckily it turned out great! I have to be honest, it didn't really taste very asian to me but it was a great dinner. I think that maybe by adding a different type of sauce (maybe even a orange marmalade) in place of half of the ketchup will give it more of an asian flavor. Any ideas? I definitely recommend this recipe though. It was excellent!
3-4 boneless,skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks Salt and pepper, to taste 1 cup cornstarch 2 eggs, slightly beaten ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
For the Sauce:
¾ cup sugar 4 tablespoons ketchup ½ cup vinegar (preferably rice or white) 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Working in two batches, toss the chicken pieces in egg and then coat with the cornstarch. Heat the oil over medium-high heat and again in two batches, brown the chicken, turning it so that all sides are browned.
4. Place the chicken in a single layer in a 9×13 baking dish.
5. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and pour evenly over the chicken. Turn the chicken to ensure each piece is coated.
6. Bake for 1 hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.
Every once and a while I like to go through some of my old cooking magazines because it's like seeing them for the first time again. A recipe that may not have appealed to me last year may appeal to me this year. This one I found in the December 2004 issue of Cuisine at Home magazine. It was written by Maryann Esposito and I have made some variations but I would love to make it as is someday. When it's just me and Steve I rarely make chicken on the bone unless it's a chicken breast. Steve won't eat the dark meat so I tend to adapt recipes to use breast meat instead. I don't mind it so much but when I'm visiting my parents alone I love to have my mom make dark meat or pork chops or any of the things Steve doesn't like. So Mom, if you're reading you know what to do! :-)
My changes were simple. I swapped chicken tenders for the whole chicken, swapped linguine for papparedelle (only because I forgot to buy it when I went to the supermarket), Added a little more sage (and I still think it could have used more), added stock for more sauce and added butter and cheese to the pasta (a trick for a silkier sauce thatI picked up last month in bon appetit magazine). All very minor changes nothing life changing except for the vinegar. I really wanted to add it but I forgot. It smelled soo good that I just thought I was all done! This was a fantastic meal and I highly recommend it!
Linguine with chicken, mushrooms and wine
Adapted from Maryann Esposito
Ingredients: 1 lb mushrooms, quartered 4 oz pancetta or bacon, diced 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced ½ pound fennel (bulb only), sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup dry red wine 1 cup chicken stock 1-2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, chiffonade ½ cup all purpose flour Kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder 1 lb chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces, tendon removed 4-6 Tbsp unsalted butter Extra virgin olive oil 1 pound linguine 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, optional
Directions: 1. Sauté mushrooms in 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Don’t stir until the mushrooms begin to brown. Stirring them will prevent them from getting color and building that extra level of flavor. Once they start to soften, season with salt and they give off liquid. Cook until liquid evaporates. Stir in ½ cup of wine. Increase the heat to high and boil until most of the wine evaporates; remove and set aside. Wipe out pan and return it to stove top.
2. In a large plastic food storage bag combine flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the pieces of chicken, close the bag and shake to coat in flour.
3. Melt 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of oil in the sauté pan. Brown the chicken in batches (if necessary) over medium heat; remove; set aside.
4. Sauté the pancetta in the pan drippings until it begins to brown. Add the onion and fennel and cook until the onion softens and fennel begins to brown. Stir in garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more. Increase heat to high and stir in remaining wine and sage. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits that have stuck to the pan. When wine begins to evaporate add about ½ cup of chicken stock. Let sauce reduce and add more stock if you want more liquid. Return the mushrooms and chicken to the pan and stir. Lower heat to medium-low and cover. Let chicken simmer for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
5. Meanwhile, cook linguine in a large pot of salted boiling water. When pasta is al dente drain and add the remaining butter to the pot (optional) toss pasta in butter to coat and add about ½ cup romano cheese and toss. Toss pasta with half the sauce and chicken and add the remaining chicken and sauce to top the pasta in each plate.
This dish (and others like it) is the reason why I have all clad pots. To sear and to make pan sauces. When I first started watching the food network I became obsessed with getting those little browned bits stuck to the pan so I could look and feel like a professional Chef when I deglazed the pan. Seriously, it was like a little girl who plays house and dreams of what life will be like. Instead of dreaming about the house and the husband and the babies I dreamt of the kitchen and the deglazing and the sauces. I tried making a pan sauce in my mom's non stick pans and that only lead to disappointment. Luckily I have a mom who loves me and wants to make me happy so she bought me a set of all clad pans. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks Mom!
Here is a simple dish that uses very few ingredients. I actually coated the chicken in flour (before I had a clue that I was making that sauce) which was unnecessary. So I am not going to put that step in the directions. This is one of those made up as I go along recipes so I don't have exact ingredients. Hopefully you'll be able to wing it. :-) I made just enough for two but you can certainly make this for four or more. If you want more sauce just add more chicken stock a little at a time and reduce it until it thickens and you have the amount of sauce you want. You do not need a ton of sauce though because it is packed with flavor and a little goes a long way.
Chicken Breasts with a Mustard Caper Pan Sauce
Michele Brigante
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts approx 1/2 cup chicken stock 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 -2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil 1 generous tablespoon of dijon mustard 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 teaspoons of capers 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and the butter in a saute pan (stainless steel will work best) over medium heat. Saute chicken on both sides then remove to a plate. If the pan is dry add a little more oil and the garlic. Do not let garlic burn or it will taste bitter (lower the gas if necessary). Cook the garlic for a minute and add flour. Allow flour to cook for 1 minute and stir. Turn gas up again if you lowered it an add stock while stirring with wooden spoon or whisk. Add mustard and capers and season with pepper. Taste it before you add salt and adjust salt and mustard accordingly. If you want your sauce to thicken reduce it further, or if you want more sauce add a little more stock and let it reduce. Add parsley. When your sauce is done add the chicken to the pan with and toss to coat. Cover and let it cook for another 5-10 mins (depending on the thickness of your chicken) so chicken is cooked through.
I have two great things to share with you all this morning! This fantastic recipe for Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola sauce and the gorgeous Kensington Platter it's sitting on!
I got this recipe from a special issue magazine from Fine Cooking called Real Italian. For $10 I think I did better with this purchase than some of my cookbooks because there are so many recipes I can see myself trying. I didn't change this recipe much, I just added an entire package of mushrooms (10 oz) so I upped the garlic to 3 cloves, upped the marsala by another splash and added a little more cream because I wanted it to have a little more sauce for the pasta. I also used a little butter along with the oil when sauteing the chicken and mushrooms.The recipe didn't have pasta in the recipe but in the photo it was served over pasta so I just tossed it together. If you don't want to use pasta you can serve it over rice or even polenta. If you toss is with 1/2 pound of pasta this dish can serve 4 easily.
So what do you all think of this platter? I've been eyeing it since I first saw the Entertaining at Home Catalog and when I joined the company I found out that I could earn it for free! EAH has no minimums but they have a ton of awesome incentives that you can choose to participate in. The first month I didn't even realize I earned any free product until I got an email telling me I did. I was certainly surprised! This month I was expecting my incentive gift and was thrilled when it got here! I knew I wanted to use it right away and so here it is! Take a look at how beautiful this is! You can see more information about this platter and stand on page 10 of our catalog. You can view that by clicking on this link and then clicking on Preview our Spring Catalog.
Chicken Marsala with Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce
As seen in The Best of Fine Cooking - Real Italian
Issue No. 36
Serves 2 -3
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 3) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 6 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup dry marsala 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 1/2 oz. crumbled gorgonzola (1/3 cup) 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Directions:
1. Trim the chicken, removing the tenders and slice on an angle into 3/4 inch thick pieces, and then season generously with salt and pepper. In a 10 inch straight sided saute pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add half the chicken and cook, flipping once, until lightly browned and just barely cooked through, 1-2 mins per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
2. Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the remaining tsp of oil. Add mushrooms, season lightly with salt and saute, stirring with a wooden spoon until softened and well browned, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, 20-30 seconds. Pour in the Marsala and scrape the pan with the spoon to loosen any browned bits; simmer until the Marsala is reduced slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cream and simmer until thickened slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add two thirds of the Gorgonzola and stir until melted, 1-2 minutes. Taste the sauce; add salt and pepper as needed, add the chicken along with any accumulated juices and turn to coat with the sauce. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the remaining cheese and the parsley.
Last month when I roasted chicken breasts for Ina Garten's Chicken Salad, I told myself that I should use this method more often for more dishes. The chicken breasts were so incredibly moist and delicious and the seasoning was so simple, just salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Last night I decided to make the chicken again and make a sauce to go on top. After digging around my fridge and pantry I came up with an amazing sauce. I served the chicken on top of couscous and with a side of broccoli rabe. The sauce gave the couscous tons of flavor. After cooking I removed the skin from the chicken because Steve won't eat it anyway and when he picks something out and puts it to the side it sort of makes me a little crazy (shhh!) so I took it off myself. It doesn't look as pretty as it would with crispy brown skin but we do what we have to for the ones we love (and our sanity).
Ingredients:
2 split chicken breasts, cleaned and trimmed of excess fat 1/2 pint of grape tomatoes 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil 1 small jar of marinated artichokes, drained 1 tablespoon capers 1 cube frozen Dorat basil (from Trader Joe's) 3 cloves garlic, cracked, skin removed extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper dry white wine splash of white balsamic vinegar chicken broth
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken on hide sided cookie sheet (jelly roll pan) and rub both sides with oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes. Add white wine and chicken broth to the pan. Not enough to cover the whole pan but enough to created a sauce with the drippings. Cook for 10 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through (depends on the size of the chicken breasts). Remove pan from the oven and remove the skin (unless you plan on eating the skin, then keep it on.)
2. In a cast iron skillet add grape tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, capers, garlic, drizzle of oil and splash of vinegar. Cook in the oven while the chicken is cooking. When you add wine and broth to the chicken also add some to the tomato artichoke mixture along with the basil. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
3. If you chose to remove the skin or not you may want a little more color on the chicken or to crisp the skin. Remove chicken from the pan and nestle it into the tomato artichoke mixture and add whatever juice is in the pan. Put the skillet under the broiler until chicken reaches desired color or skin is crispy.
Serve chicken with tomato artichoke mixture spooned over it.
I've never made chicken salad before this weekend. I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm not a big fan of tons of mayonaisse. I don't mind a little on my sandwich but potato salads that have a ton of it or tuna that is swimming in it, I don't know, it grosses me out. This definitely has mayo in it but it's cut by sour cream and it's so much better than all mayo. Trust me. The chicken is roasted instead of poached and what a difference it makes. Throw in some extra breasts and save the chicken for other recipes. I did and it's come in handy already. The recipe is by Ina Garten's and I made a couple of small changes. I'll post what I did here and you can click on the link for the original recipe.
2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (1 1/2 pounds) olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup pecan halves (or walnuts) 2 stalks celery, diced 1/2 cup light mayonnaise 1/2 cup light sour cream 1 tablespoon dijon mustard 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley ¼ cup scallions or chives 1 cup green or red grapes, cut in half Lettuce leaves, for serving
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool.
When the chicken is cool, remove meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Shred the chicken with two fork or with your fingers. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a pan and set aside to cool.
For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste . Fold in parsley and chives.
Place the shredded chicken in a bowl, add the pecans, walnuts and grapes. Pour the dressing over the chicken and toss well. Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.
When Saltimbocca was decided for the Coast to Coast Challenge I thought I'd sit it out. You see, I believe I have really perfected this dish and I didn't want to alter it. Steve loves it, our friends and family love it. I make it often and already blogged about it. Check out my post here. However, this challenge (or is it cook off?) has gone international and I didn't want to miss out on the fun. I thought that I could make this dish a one pot pasta dish and instead of serving the spinach on the side I would toss it in. So, I did it and you guessed it, it was meant to be! This dinner was fabulous, so fabulous in fact that I couldn't help laughing at how good (and easy) it was. I know, I'm a dork but I just felt SO good about it.
This is almost identical to my other recipe so I'm probably just going to do a little copy and paste but that's why it's so great, I didn't change the recipe, it's just new! Now I know I said this is a one pot dish but consider that I need lots of garlic in my spinach (yes Dad...Garlic...we're Italian...embrace it) so instead of just tossing it in at the end (which you could absolutely do) I decided to saute it separately in garlic and oil and toss it in already cooked. I think it added great flavor.
Chicken Saltimbocca Pasta Toss
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks or strips 5 slices of prosciutto di Parma, sliced into strips 4 cloves garlic, sliced 1 cup marsala wine 1 cup all purpose flour wondra flour approx. 2 cups chicken stock salt and pepper fresh sage 4-5 tbsp butter (can be adjusted or substiuted with oil) extra virgin olive oil 1 pound cellantani pasta or any short tubular pasta will do spinach, prepared (see below) or one bag of fresh spinach
Directions:
1. Season all purpose flour with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Lightly dredge chicken into flour shaking off excess. Melt 2 tbs butter and 1 tbsp oil into a large hot pan. Sauté chicken over medium high heat until nicely browned, remove from pan and set aside for later.
2. In the same pan sauté 4 cloves garlic adding more butter or oil if the pan is dry. After a minute or so add the prosciuto slices and let them crisp up. Add a few torn leaves of fresh sage. Toss garlic and prosciutto together and then add marsala wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits in the pan. Let liquid reduce to about half. Add chicken stock and cook for about 10 minutes until reduced a bit. At this point you can add some more sage to infuse the flavor into the liquid. Sprinkle in wondra flour a little at a time and stir after each addition until you get the the thickness you like. You want the sauce to coat the back of a spoon. Once desired consistency is reached add cooked chicken and any accumulated juices into the sauce.
3. Meantime cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. (If cooking the spinach prepare now as it only takes minutes to cook.) Drain pasta and add to the pan with the sauce and toss, add spinach and toss.
Sautéed Spinach
Ingredients:
1 bag spinach 4 cloves garlic cracked extra virgin olive oil salt
Directions:
Sauté garlic in oil until it begins to lighly brown, add in the spinach and toss so it gets coated with oil. Add more oil if needed, season with salt (and pepper if you like) and once wilted it's done.
There have been some exciting additions to our coast to coast challenges! For one, we have gone international and second, DD of DDpie's Slice has been kind enough to make us a bakespace map. Click on the map to go on our International Saltimbocca Cooking Tour! It's so interesting to see how creative the Bakespace members are. Each recipe is different so you'll be sure to find AT LEAST one you like! On the map, you can choose a location on the left hand pane or you can click on a marker on the map. When the pic of the dish pops up, click on it and it will take you to that person's blog. Hope you have fun on our International Tour!
Today was one of those days when I had no idea what to do with the two chicken breasts I defrosted for dinner. There is work being done outside our condo so it's a pain to get to the grill right now and it's been so hot that I didn't want to turn on the oven. After a quick peek in my fridge, freezer and pantry I came up with this. It's so simple that I wondered if it was blog worthy. It's basically a chicken and veggie saute served over pasta. Not that impressive but very delicious. If you notice in the photo there are two different types of pasta there. I had a little bit of penne in an open box and a little gemelli in another. So I used the cooking times on the back of the box. I threw the gemelli in first and then a minute or so later added in the penne. It was fine that way and I've done it before. If you just put it in at the same time you may end up with some pasta that's over cooked or some pasta that's not cooked enough. Different shapes have different cooking times.
If you don't like zucchini or artichoke hearts substitute them with something else. Cannelini beans would be great here, chick peas, eggplant too. Use your favorite combo or try something new!
Chicken with Zucchini and Artichoke Hearts
Ingredients:
1 pound of short pasta, penne, ziti, rigatoni, etc. 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces 1 medium zucchini, quaretered lenthwise and then cut into chunks 10 frozen artichoke hearts 1 onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced handful of frozen peas handful of fresh basil, torn handful of kalamata olives 1/2 cup white wine 1 Tbsp tomato paste chicken broth extra virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp butter salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder, saute in mixture of butter and a little oil until brown. Remove and set aside. Add in a little more oil if your pan is dry and saute onion in olive oil, add zucchini and leave it a lone for a minute until it browns a little, add garlic and let cook for a minute or so and then add artichoke hearts. They won't really brown but will soften. (*See Note) Add tomato paste and stir, let it cook for a minute. Deglaze pan with wine and scrape up any browned bits that stuck to the pan. When liquid reduces add chicken broth a little at a time to get the consistency of sauce you want. Add kalamata olives, salt and pepper and let cook for about 20 minutes. Add cooked chicken and peas to the pan and stir. Chicken is already cooked so just let it simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
While sauce is cooking, boil water for pasta, season well with salt. When sauce is almost ready drop the pasta. When pasta is al dente toss with sauce and serve.
*note - I used some fresh tomatoes but they weren't ripe enough and didn't do anything for the dish so I didn't put it in the recipe. However, if you have beautiful ripe plum tomatoes you could add them here.
Ever since watching The Next Food Network Star and Julie and Julia I've been thinking a lot about what makes my cooking style unique. I wondered what I would say if I was asked what my culinary point of view is. It became very clear to me when reading a really great comment someone left on my blog. It's something that is always in the back of my mind but when I really thought about it, it was clear as day. As you know, my blog was originally created to help me learn to make the recipes my grandmother made and share it with my family and friends. This has evolved into something even more. Through the years I've learned what flavors go well together, what ingredients can be substituted for others, how to work with what I have and the budget that I have. Sometimes things worked well, sometimes not so much, but that's okay. That seems to have become the theme of this blog and that's what I want readers to learn. I want someone to read my blog and think, hey, I can do that. It doesn't matter if you don't have prosciutto today, or that you don't have the specific wine this recipe calls for or even if you are a vegetarian. I want people to learn to view recipes as a guide, an idea that worked, not something written in stone. Take that idea and run with it, change it up, make it work for you. It may not turn out exactly like the picture in a book or like a photo on a blog but that's okay because hey, it could end up even better. What is important is that you are in the kitchen, that you fill your home with wonderful aromas, put meals on the table that bring your family together and enjoy yourself. It doesn't matter if it's a hit or a flop, what matters is that you tried and you didn't give up. The more you get in the kitchen you will learn what you like and what flavor combinations work for you and your family. Before you know it, you'll have more hits and less flops. As long as your ingredients are good and fresh you'll win every time. I hope that I can help give you the courage to be creative, try something new, and be comfortable and confident that you can create a wonderful meal no matter how limited your pantry is.
Today's recipe is an example of how my cooking philosophy works. When I saw this recipe I loved it. To me it seems like a combination of chicken marsala and saltimbocca, two of my favorite dishes. Marsala is a simple mushroom sauce made with marsala wine and fresh mushrooms. Saltimbocca's key ingredients are prosciutto, sage and spinach is usually served with it or under it. For me this recipe would really be a marriage of those two dishes if it was served with spinach ravioli or with some spinach tossed in. Today, I happened to have the spinach ravioli but unfortunately I didn't have the prosciutto and sage. I didn't let it stop me, we needed to eat dinner anyway! It wasn't the same as the photo in the magazine and it wasn't a true combination of both dishes but still very delicious. As always, I use cremini mushrooms in place of button mushrooms and I used garlic in place of the shallots, and added garlic powder in addition to the salt and pepper when I seasoned my chicken. The dinner was excellent, Steve and I were both very happy with it. Next time I will love to try the recipe with prosciutto, sage and definitely some spinach. Use your imagination and change it up according to what you have in your pantry, you never know, you may find a new family favorite!
Chicken Marsala Ravioli
from Cuisine at Home, Perfect Pasta
Ingredients:
For the Ravioli and the Chicken-
1 - 9 oz. package refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips and seasoned with kosher salt and pepper 1/4 cup all purpose flour 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 oz. prosciutto, chopped
For the Marsala Sauce-
1/2 lb button mushrooms, sliced 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp minced shallots 1/2 cup dry marsala or dry sherry 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth 2 Tbsp minced fresh sage 2 Tbsp unsalted butter 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
*Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain and set aside.
Coat seasoned chicken in flour. Saute in 3 Tbsp oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until chicken is brown, about 5 minutes. Add prosciutto; cook 1 minute. Transfer chicken mixture to a plate and set it aside.
Saute mushrooms in 2 Tbsp oil in the same pan over medium-high heat until mushrooms are brown, about 3 minutes. Add shallots; cook 1 minute.
Deglaze pan with marsala, scraping up any bits rom the bottome of the pan; simmer until liquid is nearly evaporated. Stir in broth, chicken mixture, cooked ravioli and sage. Simmer until ingredients are heated through.
Stir in butter. Sprinkle ravioli and chicken with parsley, and season dish with salt and pepper before serving.
* Note - In my experience the sauce can be made frist - just wait to add the chicken until you're ready. I don't like to let ravioli sit without sauce they'll stick together. I rather the sauce wait for the pasta than the pasta wait for the sauce. Otherwise, toss the ravioli with a little olive oil so they don't stick while waiting for the sauce to be ready.
Bonjour! Can you hear it? My Julia Child impersonation? Use your imagination people!
I bet all you foodies out there are psyched about the upcoming movie Julie and Julia. Well I'm not going to brag but.....ISAWITALREADYOHMYGODITWASAWESOME!!!! Okay, Okay, I'll calm down. Well you all know about bakespace already, geez, I tell you about it all the time and if you're new here or if you don't remember, bakespace is a social networking site for foodies like you and me! Well thanks to Sony and our fearless leader, Babette (the founder of bakespace), I won tickets to see the premier of Julie and Julia! There was a contest and I posted about it on facebook and twitter so everyone could participate in the giveaway. So on Tuesday me and a couple of other bakespace members who won tickets headed over to Garden State Plaza in Paramus to watch the movie.
Here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet.
If you don't have time to watch trailer I'll briefly tell you what the movie is about (without giving anything away of course!). Julie and Julia is a story about Julie Powell, a food blogger who spends a year making every single recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. To read Julie Powell's blog, the Julie/Julia Project click here. Intertwined with Julie's story is the story of Julia Child and how she came to live in France and how she became a chef. Obviously, you all know who Julia Child is (except my father who thought I was going to meet someone from the food network when I told him I won tickets to see Julie and Julia...that's a post for another day!) but the story of Julie Powell is real. She started off without any readers and before you know it she was contacted by publishers, magazine editors and television network producers. It's amazing how that happened. Being a food blogger myself I can certainly relate to everything (well, except the being published part!) and this movie just pulled at my heartstrings. It was fantastic!!!! I loved it!!! Merryl Streep and Amy Adams were fantastic! Have I convinced you yet that this movie was fabulous? Okay, so again, Thank YOU Babette for making this possible! I don't know how I would have held out for two more weeks!
I came out of the theater and I knew I just had to make a recipe from Julia Child's cookbook. I don't own her cookbook and I didn't grow up watching her on television. I've seen an episode here and there but never was interested in french cooking. Good thing because I would certainly be double my size if I was. Yesterday I did a search on the internet for a Julia Child recipe using chicken breasts and I found the following recipe on HGTV's website. Click here to see the article. The dish was delicious and decadent, I really enjoyed it (even though I overcooked the rice - oops) but unfortunately, this will not become part of my regular rotation. It's just way too fattening...almost one stick of butter. The sauce was amazing, I could eat it with a spoon! I used marsala because I forgot to buy madeira but I don't think it made much of a difference. I also forgot the mushrooms! Hopefully Julia Child isn't rolling around in her grave (yes Dad, Julia Child is no longer with us so I couldn't possibly meet her and get some advice like you suggested)! Okay, enough of my babbling...here's the recipe!
Supremes de Volaille a Blanc (Chicken breasts poached in butter)
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. Knopf, 1961.
Ingredients:
Rice: 1/3 cup finely minced onions 2 tbsp. butter 1 cup raw, unwashed white rice 2 cups chicken stock or broth salt and pepper small herb bouquet: 2 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf, and a sprig of thyme tied together with white string.
Chicken: 4 thin boneless, skinless chicken cutlets salt, pepper and lemon juice 4 tbsp. butter 1/4 cup chopped celery 1/4 cup diced onions 1/4 cup diced carrots 1/4 sliced mushrooms
Wine Sauce: 1/4 cup white or brown stock 1/4 cup port, Madeira or dry white vermouth 1 cup heavy cream salt, pepper, lemon juice 2 tbsp. minced parsley
Preparation:
For the rice, cook the onions slowly in the butter until soft. Add the rice and stir over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes until rice, which first turns translucent, becomes a milky white color. Then stir in the chicken stock, season lightly with salt and pepper, and add the herb bouquet. Stir briefly until simmer is reached, then cover closely and cook at a moderate simmer, about 18 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Do not stir rice at all until this has happened. Then fluff lightly with a fork, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. This can be cooked ahead of time and reheated.
For the chicken: Preheat oven to 400. Cook the vegetables in the butter in a fireproof casserole before adding the chicken. Season meat with salt, pepper and drops of lemon juice. Lay over vegetables in one layer in the casserole, making sure the chicken is coated in the butter. Cover the surface of the casserole with wax paper. Place in oven for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the meat feels springy when you push on it. Remove from oven and set casserole aside while you prepare the sauce.
For the sauce: Pour stock and wine into a saucepan and boil rapidly until liquid is syrupy. Then pour in the cream and boil rapidly until lightly thickened. Season with salt, pepper and drops of lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the casserole and serve with the warm rice.
Bon Apetit!
For a web companion to Mastering the Art of French Cooking, check out Whisk: a food blog.
I have a lot of recipes everywhere. I have cookbooks, cooking magazines, recipes printed from the internet, recipes pulled out of magazines, I have a ton that are saved on my computer, given to me by friends, starred in my google reader, etc. It would take me two lifetimes to make each one. Every once and a while I like to make myself go through the folders and binders filled with recipes and actually make something. I guess this is how I justify keeping them. So that is how I came across the recipe that I'm going to share with you today. I pulled this recipe from the April 2008 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
Overall this is a good, easy, go to chicken recipe. I only need to make one recommendation. The recipe calls to brown the chicken over medium high heat in butter. This is fine but please mix a little oil into the pan otherwise your butter will burn and your garlic probably will too. This recipe makes a very nice little sauce and the chicken is topped with a gremolata (minced garlic, lemon zest, garlic and in this case oregano).
Ingredients
1/3 cup chopped Italian (flat leaf )parsley 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano 1 Tbsp. finely shredded lemon peel 1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic (about 3 cloves) 3 Tbsp. butter 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 cup chicken broth
Directions
1. In small bowl stir together parsley, oregano, lemon peel, and garlic. Set aside. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
2. In 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat cook chicken in butter for 6 minutes or until browned, turning once. Transfer to plate. Remove skillet from heat; stir in half herb mixture. Return to heat. Add broth; bring to boiling, stirring to scrape up browned bits. Return chicken to skillet; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
3. Serve with pan sauce; sprinkle with remaining herb mixture. Makes 4 servings.
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