I wound up making quite a few other changes to arrive at my own version.  We’re still out of white wine, so I again went with vodka.  I think chicken is highly preferable roasted, so instead of boiling it like the recipe requests, I roasted chicken breasts, then used less water and more chicken stock to provide a base for the sauce.  I didn’t have dried basil on hand and probably wouldn’t have used it if I had, so I opted for a bay leaf and fresh Italian Parsley mixture that gave the stock a lovely color.  I also used my homemade breadcrumbs instead of herbed stuffing.  Then to top it all off, after nearly abandoning ship on the recipe entirely, I failed to notice they only wanted you to use 2 of 4 cups of chicken broth, so my liquids were off and I wound up with a thinner and cooked much longer sauce.  I’d like to point out that the technique for separating the fat from homemade chicken broth in the Cooking Light recipe is pretty novel.  I’m hesitant to put hot things in plastic, and actually, hesitant to waste plastic in general, but it does seem like a handy trick to keep in the back of the mind for just in case situations.

Also, were chicken breast halves REMARKABLY smaller in 1998?  I can’t remember, but the recipe calls for 6 breast halves and 4 thighs, I used 3 chicken breast halves and wound up with the required 4.5 cups of shredded chicken.  *Shrug* go figure.

Decent casseroles, let alone healthy casseroles, capable of being prepared in advance, then say, delivered are almost non-existent.  The whole reason my sister and I were discussing casseroles to begin with was due to me considering purchasing Park Avenue Potluck: Recipes from New York’s Savviest Hostesses.  I was guessing it wasn’t going to contain a recipe for broccoli, rice, and cheeze casserole.  I glanced through it quickly, and it didn’t actually strike me as portable or potluckable food at all.  I may definitely have been to quick to judge though.  If you have this cookbook, please leave me a comment in the comment section – or email me lane@dinnerandconversation.com – I’d love to hear your thoughts.

NOTES – this recipe is adjusted for my error in the sauce measurements.  No need to reduce broth further.  : )

Chicken and Cremini Mushroom Casserole

(inspired by Cooking Light by way of myrecipes.com)

3 chicken breast halves

olive oil

2 c. chicken broth

1 c. water

1/3 c. vodka

3 tbsps fresh Italian Parsley

2 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic, halved

4 c. cremini mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c. flour

1 c. 1% milk

2 c. breadcrumbs

4 tbsp butter, melted

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Drizzle rinsed and dried chicken breasts with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for approx 40 minutes or until chicken reaches and internal temperature of 165.  Remove skin and bones from chicken, shredding meat using forks.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine, chicken broth, water, vodka, parsley, bay leaves, and garlic.  Cook on medium heat, reducing to a quantity of 2 cups, approx 45 minutes.

Grease a 9 x 13 casserole with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Line bottom of casserole with shredded chicken.  In a saute pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium.  Add mushrooms, saute until soft and moist.  Remove mushrooms and reserve.  If saute pan looks dry, add another tbsp olive oil, then flour.  Cook until paste-like and flour assumes a slightly yellow color.  Add milk, whisk until smooth and thick.  Add broth mixture and cook over medium until thickened, whisking nearly continuously, about 10 minutes.  Add mushrooms then season to taste with salt and pepper.  Pour mixture over chicken.

In a small bowl, pour butter over breadcrumbs.  Stir to combine then sprinkle evenly topping the chicken and sauce.  Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly.

I had the most fabulous made by a true Italian from Piedmont.  I of course didn’t photograph it and can’t remember the name of the salami, but I’ll figure it out.  He ran out of cards so I have a name to follow up with all of his info.  I did find Central Market carries his line, so I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as I’ve figured it out.

I also sampled the Promontory, the Barely Buzzed, and the Bandaged Cajun Rubbed Promontory from the Beehive Cheese Company.  I really liked the two Promontory cheeses and love the idea of adding more lavender into my cooking.  I’m definitely inspired to make a lavender salad dressing after that burst of inspiration.  But after perusing their website, what I really want to try is the Seehive, and I’ll definitely be checking for that at the Park City Farmers Market next week or the Salt Lake Farmers Market.  Check back tomorrow for my review of the Park City Farmers Market!

I actually made this dish before I left but never got around to blogging about it.  It’s based off of a Barefoot Contessa recipe, but I can never find the morels she uses, and unless I make it to certain stores, I have troubles finding the creme fraiche.  By all means, if you have the ability, get thee to a Whole Foods or Central Market or other like store and get the creme fraiche.  It  works without it, but once you’ve tasted it with, you’ll never want to go back.  I personally love this dish with fresh chanterelles, but those can be cumbersome to track down as well.  This time I made it with the dried Monterey Blend Mushrooms I can find at most any grocery in Dallas.  I would assume they could be found other places as well.  This dish is definitely rich, but I generally am not a cream sauce fan and this is just such a savory sauce.

Chicken with Monterey Blend Mushrooms – adapted from Ina Garten’s/Barefoot Contessa’s Chicken with Morels

1 oz Monterey Blend Mushrooms

3 cups boiling water

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1/4 c. butter

2 large shallots, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 c. Madeira wine

3/4 c. sour cream

1/4 c. heavy cream, whipped

1 c. heavy cream

juice of one lemon, about 3 tbsps

Preheat oven to 375.  Pour boiling water over mushrooms and soak for 40 minutes.  Drain, rinse thoroughly, repeat.  Dry with towel to remove any remaining water, then chop finely.

In a skillet, melt 1/8 c. butter on medium low heat.  Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dredge with flour.   Brown on both sides – approx 10 minutes.  Place chicken breasts in an oven proof casserole.

Add an 1/8 c. butter to skillet, then saute shallots, garlic, and mushrooms.  Saute on medium heat 3 minutes stirring with a wooden spatula.  Add Madeira to skillet and reduce by half.  About 5 minutes.  Add sour cream, whipped cream, cream, lemon juice, 1 tsp salt and 12 turns pepper.  Boil until mixture starts to thicken and darken, about 12 minutes, stirring every minute or two.  Pour the sauce over the chicken then cook in oven 12-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

This recipe came from a Williams-Sonoma Simple Classics Cookbook, which appallingly, Williams-Sonoma seems to no longer sell. I have cooked the bulk of recipes from this book, and with the exception of a disastrous Baked Sea Bass with Fennel many years ago, this book is chalk full of solid dishes. I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count, and even have had better than average results from non-seafood eaters. In fact, I think this recipe may have inspired my friend Angela to introduce seafood to her diet.

I make my breadcrumbs from the end pieces of Orowheat Oatnut bread. I’ve linked to their site before, but after just checking again, their products page STILL seems to be under construction, so I’m not going to bother again. When we finish a loaf I throw the two end pieces in the freezer, and when I have a bunch of them, I grind them up in the Cuisinart and freeze the breadcrumbs for later use. It was a handy tip I picked up from an Austin Mama that fits in well with my efforts to reduce our food waste.

I’m also a bit of a horseradish snob. Or maybe just picky. We like the kind of horseradish we call kick-your-dog-hot. Not because we would possibly ever kick an animal, but because once, when making homemade horseradish, my eyes were watering so badly I tripped over the dog, resulting in my husband asking if the finished product would be kick-your-dog-hot. It stuck, even though my attempts at making homemade freshly prepared horseradish have not. After all the pain of grating, mine just wasn’t that hot. But, the Silver Springs Organic Brand Horseradish is the best I’ve found. Horseradish can be tricky to find in the grocery store, too. ALWAYS buy the refrigerated kind. It’s usually on a high shelf somewhere near the dairy/biscuits/butter/eggs section.

My sister found the most wonderful store for mushrooms in Dallas. Spiceman’s FM 1410 is full of fresh from the farm produce and always has an incredible mushroom selection. Plus they are full of tips. And unusually nice. People can often be so snotty about food and cooking, this is the absolute opposite experience. I may just have to move across town so I can hit the store more often.

breadcrumbs

1/2 lb small fresh mushrooms

1/4 c. butter

1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped

juice from 1 1/2 lemons

3 tbsps dijon mustard

1 1/2 tbsps prepared horseradish

1/4 freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 c. sour cream

salt and freshly ground pepper

5 sole fillets

Position a rack in the lower part of an oven and preheat the oven to 425. Butter a flameproof baking dish that will accommodate the fish fillets in a single layer without crowding.

Clean the mushrooms by brushing them with a paper towel; do not wash. Slice thinly and set aside.

In a saute pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and saute, stirring, for 1 minute. Raise the heat to medium, add the mushrooms, and cook, stirring and tossing, until the mushrooms are just wilted, 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, stir together the lemon juice, mustard, horseradish, Parmesan cheese, and sour cream until well blended. Add to the mushrooms, return to the heat, and bring just to a simmer. Stir to blend and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Rinse the sole fillets and pat dry. Place in the prepared baking dish i a single layer ad spoon the sauce over the fillets. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top. Bake until the fish is opaque through-out when pierced with a sharp knife, 10-20 minutes, depending on thickness.

Serve at once.