Chicken Breasts With Mushrooms

Chicken Breasts With Mushrooms

Often when people see me cook they remark about the fact that I seldom measure anything. When I bake bread, I just kind of wing it. Same when I'm cooking something like these chicken breasts. I often just use my palm when adding herbs. When my housemates moved in after the flood, they had to dig out their measuring spoons and cups because I couldn't find mine.

That's the hardest thing about writing these recipes down. If I don't measure anything when I cook it's difficult to say how much I added. I kind of just cook by gut feeling. 

Sometimes my proportions are a little off. What happens then? The sauce might be too thick, but that’s an easy fix, just add a little more chicken stock and let it simmer. But what if the sauce is too thin? 

Here’s a little trick I learned that fixes that problem. In a cup, mix equal parts of flour and room temperature butter. Use a fork and vigorously stir it until it forms a paste. While your too-thin sauce is simmering, add a little flour/butter paste to the sauce. Let it simmer for a minute to see how it thickens. Keep adding the paste until you have the right thickness. Just remember it has to simmer for a minute before you know how thick it will be. I can’t believe I’m giving away all my secrets like this.

You can use frozen chicken breasts for this meal, but it is better with fresh. If you want, you can double the bacon. That could never hurt.

3 slices of bacon
1 tbs. olive oil
3 shallots - minced fine
red pepper flakes
2 large chicken breasts
1 tsp. flour
1/4 cup white wine
4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 cups ham or chicken stock 

1 cup cream

Preparation

Heat a large braising pan. Add the olive oil and cook the bacon until crisp. Allow the bacon to drain on a paper towel. To the bacon fat, add the chicken breasts and cook about two minutes. Turn them over and cook another two minutes then add the shallots and a dash of red pepper flakes. Stir over medium heat for about one minute, but don’t let the shallots brown.

Chop the bacon and add it to the braising pan and sprinkle the flour over it. Stir for a minute and add the white wine. Stir and scrape up anything that has stuck to the pan. Add the mushrooms and stir. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat. Let this simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid of the braising pan, remove the chicken breasts and turn the heat up a little so the liquid is boiling. Add the cream and stir while you bring it back to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir until it thickens slightly. Add the chicken back and stir for one more minute.

Serving

Place a chicken breast next to a pile of home made egg noodles or steamed wild rice and cover both with the sauce. Now add some Brussels sprouts sautéed in butter and maybe a bowl of white bean soup. Donʼt forget the warm fresh bread with butter. 

A chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc will add a nice touch as well. Hmm, what else? How about a little dessert to finish things off - maybe some vanilla ice cream with melted carmel followed by an expresso. Not bad considering you just started with a couple of chicken breasts.