Chicken Breast with Creamy Herbed Mushroom Sauce

This blog really is about the food I really cook for meals that we really eat. The photos are taken while I'm really cooking and just before we really dig in to eat. That's why I haven't blogged for a week. Puppy Daddy was out of town and I spent the week eating up all the left overs in the fridge. I was so excited to make this dish for his first dinner at home last night.

This is pretty simple and the creamy mushroom sauce is delicious both on the chicken and on buttered egg noodles. Start by pounding out your chicken breast to about 1/2 inch thick. You can just saute the breast by itself in some butter, but I really like it with a thin coat of breading on it. The flour also helps thicken up the sauce. Just cook the chicken breast breaded or not in butter. When it is cooked through and both sides are browned put it in an oven proof dish and keep warm in the oven.

Next make your sauce by sauteing sliced mushrooms and  chopped red onion. (You may need to add a bit more butter.) When the mushrooms and onions are soft, deglaze your pan with  dry sherry, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Next add  chicken stock or broth,  heavy cream, a few sprigs of thyme (The leaves will come off as it cooks. You just remove the stems before serving.) and dried tarragon. Cook  until the sauce starts to thicken. Spoon over your chicken and eat!


Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt/pepper
1/2 cup flour
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 - 4 TB butter
1/4 cup chopped red onions
2 TB dry sherry
1 cup chicken stock or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 TB dried tarragon

Directions
Pound chicken breast until about 1/2 thick. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge lightly in flour. Cook in a medium high skillet with 2 TB of butter until browned on both sides and cooked through. Remove to an oven safe dish and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Saute mushrooms and onions is skillet adding butter if necessary. Cook over medium high heat until soft and browned. Deglaze skillet with sherry, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add stock, cream, thyme and tarragon. Cook until it reaches desired thickness. Serve over chicken breast.

Grilled Chicken Involtini with Proscuitto and Basil

Puppy Daddy and I had a major dilemma this weekend, what to have for dinner on Sunday night. While our Wednesday night dinner tradition is something quick and easy, I try to make our Sunday night dinners something special. Now when I was working full time, I spent Saturday mornings planning a menu for the week and making my grocery list so that I could shop once for everything I'd need for the week. But since I've been working part time from home, I've gotten lazy about our weekly menu, deciding many times day by day what I feel like eating, thus the weekend dilemma. At about 3 PM Sunday afternoon I started trying to decide what we would have for dinner that night but nothing was inspiring me. So, I asked Puppy Daddy what he wanted for dinner. He thought something cooked on the charcoal grill would be good so I put him to work looking through my Weber Grill cookbooks. He let the first book, Weber's Way to Grill by Jamie Purviance fall open and Chicken Involtini with Prosciutto and Basil was the first thing he saw. After perusing the cookbooks and discussing several options, we decided to try this recipe and boy were we glad we did!

 

The ingredients are very simple, chicken breast, prosciutto, provolone cheese, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. The result is super tasty! Just pound your chicken breast out nice and thin. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Top each with prosciutto, provolone and basil.

Next roll up chicken breast and tie up in several places with kitchen twine to keep the cheese from oozing out while it cooks. We cooked this on a charcoal grill which I think gave it a great smoky flavor, but you could use a gas grill, stove top grill or even bake it in the oven.

Yes the finished product photo from the cookbook shows it served on  tomato sauce, but I served it with pasta and homemade sauce made with fresh tomato, artichoke, garlic, basil  and parmesan . DELICIOUS! You should try this soon!

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 8 ounces each, tenders removed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 very thin slices prosciutto
4  slices provolone cheese, halved
8 large basil leaves, plus more for garnish
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups good-quality tomato sauce

Directions
Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat.

For each piece of chicken, use about 12 inches of plastic wrap. Place the chicken, smooth side down, to one side of the plastic, about 2 inches from the edge. This will allow the chicken to spread out as it gets thinner. Starting from the thick side, gently pound the chicken with the flat side of a tenderizer or the bottom of a small, heavy skillet, moving to different areas with every stroke until it is about 1/4 inch thick and just about doubles in size. Don’t pound too hard or the chicken might break apart.

Season each piece of chicken with salt, granulated garlic and pepper. Arrange the chicken with the smooth side down on a work surface.

Lay a slice of prosciutto on each piece of chicken. Then lay down 2 halves of the provolone and 2 basil leaves. Carefully roll up the chicken, keeping it snug as you work, until it is tube-shaped. Tie 2 pieces of butcher’s twine around each piece to keep it together. Trim the loose ends of twine.

Lightly brush each rolled piece with olive oil.

Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the chicken over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until golden on all sides, about 12 minutes, turning a quarter turn every 3 minutes. Remove from the grill and let rest for 3-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the tomato sauce.

Remove the twine from each chicken piece, cut into slices and serve warm on a pool of sauce. Garnish with torn basil leaves.
                                                                                                                                                                                     

Moo Goo Gai Pan

 

As I'm typing, the Whippets are sound asleep on the couches in our living room. They appear totally exhausted, though I'm not sure from what. Actually this is how they look most of the time, except for the couple of times a day when they are either racing around the backyard, or having a howl fest. I was very excited the week after we put up the Christmas tree that they had not removed and destroyed any ornaments for the first time ever. But, I shouldn't have bragged too quickly to the puppy's Uncle Steve because that very day I came home to find destroyed ornaments in the middle of the living room floor! Thankfully they are cheap plastic ornaments and not priceless family heirlooms. I keep thinking every year that surely they have grown up enough not to care about the Christmas tree, but each year I am of course, wrong. It's true, boys never grow up!

Now why in the world would I combine a Chinese food recipe with a story about Christmas? Have you seen the Christmas Story? It's one of my favorite holiday movies. I'm posting this recipe just in case your Christmas turkey gets eaten by the Bumpus' hounds. You can make Chinese food. Be sure to have the ingredients on hand!

Seriously, this is a great, easy recipe. You should try it soon.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 pound broccoli florets or snow peas

1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

salt and black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

3/4 cup skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - thinly sliced

1 teaspoon white wine

1/4 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

 

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, broccoli, and water chestnuts; season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the wok and wipe the wok clean.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the wok. Stir in the garlic and ginger; cook a few seconds until the garlic begins to turn golden brown. Stir in the chicken and cook until the chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, sugar, and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir into the simmering sauce. Once the sauce returns to a simmer, stir until thick and clear, about 30 seconds. Return the vegetables to the wok and toss until hot and coated with the sauce.

Charleston Cheese Stuffed Chicken

As I've written before, I LOVE cookbooks. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to find a locally written cookbook. I especially love Junior League and Church cookbooks with recipes from local families. I have these types of cookbooks from Apalachicola to West Virginia to Maine. This recipe is from the cookbook Music, Menus and Magnolia's by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League.




I bought this cookbook over 15 years ago on a Bayless family vacation, and when I say Bayless family vacation, I mean the whole Bayless family. When my son Brandon was young we took a summer vacation every year with my husband's parents and his brother. On this vacation we spent a week renting cabins outside of Gatlinburg and stopped for a couple of days in Charleston on the way home. I have wonderful memories of this trip because Brandon was at the truly delightful age of about 14 and entertained us thoroughly the entire trip, including his imitation of the ribbon dance routines we watched during the summer Olympics. Oh yes, today he will try to deny it, but it is the stuff of legends in our family!

I spent the trip back from Charleston reading this cookbook. Once I found this recipe, I couldn't wait to get home to try it. In fact, we had it the very night we arrived home. It is simple and delicious!

Begin this recipe by pounding out your chicken breasts very thin. Then make your cream cheese mixture which includes green onion and tarragon. Dip the chicken breast in lemon juice and put the cream cheese mixture in the middle.

Next wrap the chicken breast around the  cream cheese mixture. Wrap with 2-3 slices of bacon and secure with toothpicks. Bake at 350 degrees.











Ingredients
(serves 6)
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup green onions
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 - 18 slices bacon
toothpicks

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flatten chicken pieces by pounding between plastic wrap. Dip in lemon juice. Combine cream cheese, onions, tarragon and salt. Place 3-4 tablespoons of this mixture on each piece of chicken. Roll chicken around cream cheese mixture and wrap with slices of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Place in a shallow 9x12-inch buttered baking dish and bake, uncovered for about 30 - 40 minutes. Then turn the broiler on high for about 5 minutes to crisp up the bacon.

Creamy Lemon Parmesan Chicken

Wow, it's amazing how busy you can get being semi-retired! I haven't blogged in almost a month now, but I've still been doing plenty of cooking. Even when I'm DOG tired, my favorite thing to do is pour a glass of wine and prepare a home-cooked dinner. This recipe has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. It came from a holiday cooking magazine about 20 years ago, but it makes a great any night meal. Even my son Brandon, who was quite a picky eater when he was young, loves this.

There are just a few simple ingredients: Chicken Breast, Lemon, Heavy Cream, Chicken Stock or Broth, Grated Parmesan Cheese and Butter

Begin by pounding the chicken breast very thin. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and saute in some butter. When the chicken is done take it out of the pan, place it in an oven safe dish and keep it warm in the oven while you make the sauce.




Next deglaze your pan with lemon juice. Then add lemon zest, chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add your Parmesan cheese. Stir until sauce thickens and serve it with your chicken. So tangy and cheesy!

Ingredients
2 TB butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Melt butter in 12 inch skillet. Pound chicken between plastic wrap until about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Saute in melted butter, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and place in an oven safe dish. Place in the warm oven while you make the sauce.

Deglaze the skillet with 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Next add one tablespoon of lemon zest, chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce by about half. Stir frequently and reduce heat if sauce is bubbling too much. The sauce should easily coat the back of a spoon. Then add Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Serve sauce over chicken breast.