Yet another way to fix chicken . . . I can never have too many recipes . . . and this one is well worthy of serving to company, but it’s easy enough you could serve it to the family too. It’s the mushroom sauce in the chianti wine sauce that makes the dish. Oh, and probably the butter that gets added into it too.
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know that I’m a fan of Phillis Carey. She’s a San Diego-based chef who teaches cooking classes all over Southern California. (She doesn’t own a restaurant or cook in one.) My friend Cherrie and I have attended so many of her classes I couldn’t even begin to count. We’re part of her “fan club,” if you can call any number of people who show up regularly to her classes. We’re Phillis groupies, so to speak. And if you subscribe to her blog, once a week you get a little update about where she’s teaching, what restaurants she’s been to lately, and she provides one recipe from her teaching the previous week. That’s where this recipe came from. The recipes don’t stay on her website – they exist for a few weeks, then they’re gone. But if you subscribe to her newsletter, you’ll get a recipe a week. If you’re interested, just send an email to Phillis – phillis@phillicarey.com and ask to be added to her mailing list. (Tell her I sent you, won’t you, so she knows why she’s getting so many requests all of a sudden.)
I can’t say that I’m really “back in the kitchen” yet. Not like I used to be prior to March 9th when Dave had his stroke. I hardly ate during that subsequent 9 days – I did eat, but not much, and then after Dave passed away, I could hardly look at food, let alone cook anything.
I’ve mentioned it here before that I’m a member of PEO, a women’s organization. The night before Dave’s memorial service (about 10 days after Dave passed away), when my house was filled with people (and guests from our son’s home too) my PEO sisters brought over a meal to serve 20 people (a huge honey baked ham and every possible side dish and 2 desserts). We had 18 guests, and we nearly ate everything they brought. It was such a blessing to me – not only the love and friendship demonstrated by my PEO sisters, but the practical part of needing to feed a whole lot of people when I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. I’ll be forever grateful for what they did for me.
Yes, I cook occasionally. But only when I have some reason to – as in I’ve invited friends over or I have houseguests. I don’t think I’ve cooked a complete dinner for myself – alone – yet. I will, I’m sure, once my friends have slowed down their invitations to go out or go to their homes for dinner. As I write this I have 2 Styrofoam containers in the refrigerator with left overs from 2 different lunches or dinners out at restaurants. But I’ve invited a few friends over a couple of times and then I make myself cook. This weekend daughter Sara and granddaughter Sabrina will be here, so I’ll cook something for them for tonight’s dinner (I’m writing this on Friday). What I’ll make, I don’t know. Haven’t even thought about it. There are nights when I’m just not very hungry, so I may eat a hard boiled egg and call that “dinner.” My appetite is pretty-much back to normal, but I don’t eat very much, so I’m still slowly losing a bit of weight (a good thing). My doctor has told me just to make sure I eat some protein 3x a day. I do. That old adage about portion control? Well, I can take very small portions for dinner and be perfectly content, so I’m encouraging myself to do that.
Two days ago I packed a bag and drove to San Diego for an overnight. My home has been my sanctuary in every possible way – even though every few minutes I’m reminded that Dave’s not here – but my hubby had started a tradition a year or two ago of driving south to have lunch with daughter Sara and her husband on his way to our sailboat, which lives in San Diego. (It’s up for sale, of course, because I don’t sail; the boat was Dave’s pride and joy; I get seasick.) He’d spend a night there, puttering on something or other, spend time with his sailing buddies, and return home the next day and we were always so glad to see one another. After 31 years we were joyful at seeing each other every day, but particularly if we’d spent a night apart.
Anyway, I had dinner with my friend Linda who lives in Carlsbad. It was good to see her and spend an evening just talking. Then I drove to San Diego and spent the night with Joe and Yvette, good friends. Joe spoke at Dave’s service, and is the friend who visits frequently on business and spends the night here at my house (and I cook for him). I spent the next morning with Yvette, then drove to Escondido and had a long lunch with Sara and John. We had lots to talk about. Then I drove home and got dinner ready for a very dear friend, Meredith (daughter of a dear, old friend of mine – our daughters grew up together). Meredith and I are both in book clubs, and we always have lots to share about books to read. She’s my daughters’ age of course, but we have a lovely friendship, and her visit just made my heart sing. She gave me several recommendations of books to read and to recommend to my 2 book groups.
Now that I’ve spent all that time talking about how busy I am, let me just say that I think I’m beginning to come out of my grief cloud. Today (Friday) it’s been 6 weeks since Dave died. I still cry. I still tear up easily, and choke up even more often but it doesn’t last. I’m able to stop the true crying. In private I still do sometimes, but not as often. I cry particularly when friends hug me. In the grief class we’re supposed to tell people how we think we rank (today) on a scale of 0-10. Over the weeks I’ve been anywhere from a 0 to a 1.5. But this week I think I’m a 2. That’s progress. Last week I spent 2 hours with the estate/trust attorney and I have a huge, long list of things I must put together (paperwork). The list is overwhelming. I was the record keeper, the payer of the bills, the one who gathered the info for tax time, but still, some of the paperwork (to value our collective estate before it’s divided up into an AB trust) is just hard to find. I need the registration for the boat (which is in San Diego) and the dinghy (also in San Diego). I haven’t been to the boat yet. I have friends keeping a close eye on it for me and it’s locked up tight. One day soon I’m going to have to go there and take care of several things – removing all of Dave’s personal effects (foul weather gear, jackets, shirts, pillows, blankets, etc.). Next week, I think. I’ll clean out the refrigerator. There may not be anything in it. Don’t know. The desk (chart table) is full of stuff, I know. That will need going through, and just spiffing everything up so it looks good to a potential buyer. It’s a beautiful boat and Dave took wonderfully good care of it.
Sleep still eludes me some, even though I’m taking a prescription drug at night. But I still wake up sometimes at about 3 or 4 am and can’t go back to sleep. That next day is tough when I’m so tired I can hardly function. Once I get some of this prodigious paperwork done, perhaps I can calm my mind better. And sleep until 6. I’m looking forward to that.
Now that I’ve unloaded all that on you, my readers, let’s get back to the recipe. When I made this, I used a combo of chicken breasts and boneless thighs. I cut the chicken breasts in half (bone-in). I cooked the thighs longer and added the breasts back into the sauce just a short time until the breast meat was tender and juicy. I made it with orzo, and I used ample mushrooms. The sauce is what makes this – so don’t skimp. It’s delicious (the gravy) on the orzo you could serve on the side.
The chicken is browned and set aside. Then you make the sauce. The original recipe called for shallots. Well, I only had one, so I added half an onion, which worked fine. I opened a bottle of Chianti and used most of it (about 3 cups) to make the sauce. The chicken is added back in once you’ve made the sauce – it does stain the chicken – that might be a turn-off for some people. Perhaps children? I don’t know. But, it tastes wonderful. A little flour is added in at the last to thicken the gravy. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, and add the mushrooms to the sauce and it’s done.
What’s GOOD: the flavor. Gosh, it’s good. It almost tastes like coq au vin but you don’t have to work so hard to make it. It’s the wine, I’m sure. It’s relatively easy to make – and most of it could be made ahead. Just don’t overcook the chicken, that’s all. Substitute other chicken parts if you’d prefer. Phillis is the master of chicken breasts, but thighs worked just fine.
What’s NOT: can’t think of anything. If I had to work at it I’d say the dark wine staining the chicken isn’t all that pretty, but it’s tastes great, so what the heck.
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Chicken Breasts with Chianti Mushroom Sauce
Recipe By: Phillis Carey, from her website, 2014
Serving Size: 8
3 cups red wine — Chianti type
1 cup low sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper for seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter — divided use
2 whole shallots — sliced (or shallots and half an onion minced)
3 cloves garlic — sliced
1 pound crimini mushrooms — sliced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves — chopped (or a scant 1 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons flour
Notes: I made this with bone-in chicken breasts cut in half and boneless thighs. Cook the thighs for about 20+ minutes, adding the breasts in during the last 10 or so. I also didn’t have enough shallots, so I substituted one shallot and half an onion chopped fine. Serve with pasta (I used orzo) or rice.
1. Place Chianti, beef broth and tomato paste in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve tomato paste. Continue to cook down by half. Cover and set aside.
2. Trim chicken and pound to an even 1/2 inch thickness; season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and brown 2 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a plate.
3. Melt 2 T. butter in the same skillet and then add the shallots and garlic and toss until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and thyme; sprinkle lightly with salt. Continue to cook, stirring often, until mushrooms cook off all the excess liquid and begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the reduced wine to the mushrooms and bring to a boil, stirring often.
4. Return chicken to the skillet, turning to coat in the sauce. Simmer chicken until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove chicken to serving plates and stir the remaining 2 T. butter into the sauce. Serve sauce spooned over the chicken.
Per Serving: 307 Calories; 11g Fat (39.5% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 84mg Cholesterol; 144mg Sodium.
Mary S
said on May 3rd, 2014:
You are so right!! A girl can’t have too many GOOD chicken recipes. And this does sound like a winner.
I do look forward to your posts — feels like I have received a letter from a friend with a great recipe included and suggestions for some good reads.
Continued good wishes, Dear Carolyn.
Thank you, Mary. When I started reading blogs (years ago, before I started mine 7 years ago) I, too, felt like I really got to know the blogger. As time went on I felt like her/his friend. I’ve befriended a few of my readers (who live near me) and another that lives in England. The last one – we’ve never met but we correspond regularly via email. So, I do understand. . . carolyn t