Pollo Alfredo con Farfalle

Pollo Alfredo con Farfalle

(Chicken in cream sauce with Farfalle)

(Italy)

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1-pint heavy cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Kosher salt, to taste

freshly ground nutmeg, to taste

½ cup frozen peas (optional)

1/2 pound Fettuccine noodle

Preparation

prepare the chicken breast:

Sauté the chicken breast pieces in the olive oil until it begins to caramelize.

Remove from the caramelized chicken from the oil and drain on a paper towel-lined dish.

prepare the Farfalle:

In a large stockpot, cook the Farfalle in plenty of boiling salted water according to package directions.

prepare the sauce:

While the Farfalle is cooking, in a deep sauté pan over medium-low heat, heat the cream.

Add the butter and stir gently to melt.

Sprinkle in cheese and stir to incorporate.

Add the chicken pieces and peas.

Season with freshly cracked black pepper, salt, and nutmeg to taste.

bring it all together:

Drain the noodles and add them to the sauté pan, gently toss the noodles to coat in the Alfredo sauce. Transfer the noodles to a warm serving bowl.

service:

Top with more grated, serve immediately.

Murgh Makani ( Indian Butter Chicken)

Murgh Makhani

(Indian Butter Chicken)

serves 4

Ingredients

marinade:

5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1 whole lime, juiced

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

sauce:

1/4 cups butter
1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 14.5ounce can tomato sauce
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pint whipping cream
1 bunch chopped cilantro
½ - 1 cup frozen petite peas (optional)

Preparation

marinate the chicken:

1.  Combine the marinade ingredients.

2.  Place the chicken in a 1 gallon ziplock bag, add the spice mix and seal the bag squeezing as much air out as possible.  Massage the chicken and marinade to insure the marinade coats all the chicken.  

3.  Marinate the chicken overnight.

create the Murgh Makhani:

1.  In a large sauté pan, sauté the onion in the butter until soft and translucent. 

2.  Add the marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 

3.  Add the tomato sauce ingredients and cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on, stirring occasionally.

4.  Just prior to serving and after the chicken and sauce has cooked for 30 minutes add the whipping cream, cilantro and optional frozen peas. 

5.  Heat the Murgh Makhani until the peas are warmed through, about 5 minutes.

service:

Serve the Butter Chicken over Basmati rice and accompanied by naan bread and Samosas.

Chicken Tagine

Chicken Tagine

serves 4

(Morocco)

Chicken Tagine (Djaj Mqualli) is an exotic play on roasted chicken.  This version allows you to enjoy this delightful dish without the need to purchase a Tagine.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin  olive oil
2 chicken breasts, 2 chicken thighs and legs skin on with bone or 4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Kosher or sea salt, to taste

 freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large yellow onions, sliced
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
½ teaspoons crushed saffron threads
1½ cups chicken stock
6 ounces. green olives, cracked
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
2 jarred preserved lemons, cut into slices*

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

cook the chicken:

Heat oil in large Dutch oven (large enough to contain the chicken portions comfortably) over medium-high heat. Season the chicken portions with salt and freshly ground black pepper; add the chicken portions to the Dutch oven and cook until well browned on both sides, 12 to 15 minutes.  When the chicken is well browned, transfer to a holding plate.

prepare the cooking sauce:

Add the sliced onions to pot and cook until golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the spices and cook, stirring occasionally,  for 2 minutes.

bake the chicken:

Return the chicken to the Dutch oven with the cooking sauce and bring the liquid to the boil. Once the cooking liquid comes to a boil cover the Dutch oven and place in the preheated oven.  Bake the chicken until tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

bring it all together:

Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, uncover and remove the chicken pieces to a holding plate.  Place the Dutch oven on the stove burner over medium heat and stir the olives, butter, parsley, cilantro, and lemons into the cooking liquid and cook for 6 minutes.

service:

Pour have the cooking liquid, onions, olives and lemon slices onto a serving platter, arrange the chicken on the platter and pour the remaining liquid, onions, olives and lemon slices over the chicken.   Serve accompanied by white rice and flatbread.

* If you can’t find preserved lemons, slice 2 fresh lemons into slices.  Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat add the sliced lemons and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes until lemons collapse and give up their juices.   Use the slices as you would the preserved lemons.

Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana 

serves 8

(Italy)

Chicken  parmigiana is less expensive version of veal cutlets parmigiana and an Italian restaurant staple.  My version spices it up a little by adding the heat of red pepper flakes to traditional marinara sauce.  Notice this version is not layered as most homemade versions but is made restaurant style (single scallopini topped with sauce, parmesan, and Provolone rather than mozzarella).

                                                                              Prep time:   15 minutes
                                                                              Cook time:   37 minutes

                                                                              Total time:   52 minutes

Ingredients

spicy tomato sauce:

2 14.5 ounce cans of San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil\

2 heaping tablespoons dehydrated onions

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper

the scallopini:

8  boneless, skinless chicken breasts, scaloppini-ed (pounded to  1⁄4" thickness)

1⁄2 cup flour

4 eggs, beaten

1 1⁄2 cups Italian dried bread crumbs

8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 slices provolone cheese (about 6 ounce), more depending on the size of the chicken scallopini

3⁄4 cup grated parmesan

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper,  to taste

Preparation

spicy tomato sauce:

1.  In a large sauce pan over medium heat, bring the olive oil to the ripple state, add  the dehydrated onions, the basil, the oregano, the crushed red pepper flakes*, and the granulated garlic  and cook, stirring constantly, until the  herbs are fragrant, about 2 minutes. 

2.  Reduce the heat to low and add the crushed tomatoes/tomato sauce, stirring constantly until the tomatoes  combine with the herbs and begins to caramelizes, about 3 minutes.  Raise the heat and bring to a simmer.  Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt, black pepper, and additional red pepper.

3.  Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes over low heat.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  

* if you're not sure of how spicy you like your sauce start with ¼  teaspoon of red pepper flakes and adjust seasoning during cooking.

Pre-heat the broiler of an  oven to broil placing the oven rack 10" from the heating element.

create the scallopini:

1.  Working with 1 breast at a time place the breast in a 1 gallon re-sealable  plastic bag and pound the breast into  a ¼ to ½ -inch thick scallopini. 

2.  Season the pounded scallopini lightly with salt and pepper.

breading and frying the scallopini:

1.  Build a breading station by placing flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes and working with one scaloppini at a time, dredge it in the flour, the eggs, and the bread crumbs and transfer the  breaded scallopini to a dish.

2.  In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Fry the breaded scallopini,  2 at a time,  turning once with tongs, until golden brown, about 3 minutes; wiping out the frying  pan and adding fresh oil  between.  Either transfer scallopini to large baking platter or to individual, oven proof plates.

bake the scallopini:

1.  Once all the scallopini have been fried and plated, top each scallopini with 1⁄3 cup of the marinara sauce, sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons of parmesan, and one or more  slices of cheese. 

2.  Place the plated and topped scallopini under the broiler until  the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 5 minutes.

service:

 Dress each plate with some of the parsley and serve immediately accompanied by sauce pasta and any remaining spicy tomato sauce.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Makes 1 – 10 to 12-inch pizzas

(America)

Mom is always accusing Dad of being “too traditional” when it comes to pizza . . . “pizza is tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil, maybe a little ‘traditional’ toppings but no fu-fu stuff!” but this is another American adaption of the Italian classic that even Dad loves.  Dad uses KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce but any good sauce will do.

                                                                               Prep time: 3 hours

                                                                               Pizza cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients

authentic pizza dough:

1 ¼  cups bread flour

½  cups lukewarm (105°F) water

2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 envelope active dry yeast

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

BBQ pulled chicken:

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce

Topping

1 small red onion, peeled, halved length-wise and thinly sliced

½ cup of your favorite BBQ sauce, to taste

1/2 cup of smoked Gouda cheese, shredded

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 teaspoons of fresh cilantro,  roughly chopped 

Preparation

BBQ pulled chicken:

1.   Poach chicken breasts in salted water for about 20 minutes.  Drain the liquid from the chicken and allow it to cool.

2.   Once the chicken cools,  shred and place it into a resealable plastic bag.

3.  Pour 1 cup of the BBQ sauce over the shredded chicken, seal the bag  and massage the bag to coat all the chicken.  Place the bag in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours.  Agitate the mixture every so often to make sure all the chicken gets thoroughly marinated. 

Authentic pizza dough:

1.  In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the water and honey stir to combine and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.  If the yeast doesn't "proof" (get "foamy") pour it out and start again it is important to have a live yeast mixture.

2.  Meanwhile place the flour and the salt into a sifter and sift it into the medium bowl  of a stand mixer.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the olive oil and the "proofed" yeast mixture.  Turn the mixer, fitted with dough hooks,  to knead and turn on.  Continue kneading (mixing) until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball around the dough hooks (scrap the sides of the bowl to move flour into the path of the hooks as needed).

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky (add flour gradually as needed to reach the slightly tacky state), 3 to 5 minutes. 

4.  Lightly oil a large mixing bowl with about 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil the ball on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap cloth and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

construction and baking:

1.  Place an appropriately sized pizza stone on the middle shelf of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 450° F.

2.  Remove the risen dough ball from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured work surface , flatten it into a thick disk and with your fingertips and palms, working from the center of the disk out to the edges, press it into a thin disk of dough approximately 10 to 12-inch round and about 1/8 inch thick (if necessary use a rolling pin to achieve the 1/8-inch thickness [don’t worry if the pizza isn’t perfectly round . . . that’s called “rustica” and it’s the way “real” Italian pizza looks in Italy]).  If you're really brave you can try the spin and toss method of forming the pie (this dough is perfect for it) just remember to use your knuckles when spinning and tossing . . . fingertips can cause holes).  Sprinkle flour over the surface of this thin disk (this will become the bottom of the pie when you place the pizza base on the peel  in the next instruction).

3.  Distribute some corn meal over the surface of a pizza peel (this will act as “ball bearings” and allow the dough rounds to move easily over the surface of the peel) and transfer the formed pizza base onto the peel insuring that the lightly floured side is on the bottom.  Lightly spread ½ cup of the BBQ sauce evenly over pizza base keeping a ½ to 1-inch border of the base uncoated to form a crust; sprinkle the grated ½ the mozzarella and all the Gouda  cheeses evenly over the BBQ sauce (leaving about the of uncoated dough around the edge uncoated.   Evenly distribute the shredded, marinated chicken over the cheeses.  Evenly distribute the thinly sliced red onions over the chicken.  Evenly distribute the remaining mozzarella over the red onions and finally evenly distribute the roughly chopped cilantro over the onions.

4.  Finally  sprinkle a little extra-virgin olive oil over the surface.

5.  Gently shake the peel to insure the pizza moves freely (if it doesn’t gently lift the edges of the pizza and distribute additional corn meal until it does), using the peel slide the pizza onto the stone and bake the pizza until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 12 minute in a 450°F oven. Remove from the oven, slice into 8 wedge shaped slices and serve.

Pollo Brasciole (Stuffed Chicken Rolls)

 Pollo Brasciole

(Stuffed Chicken Rolls)

serves 4

This is a lighter version of the traditional beef braciole, the recipe can be modified to use approximately 1 cup of Italian seasoned commercial bread crumbs instead of slices of bread in which case the stuffing ingredients should simply be mixed together rather than processed together.

Ingredients

1/2 cup hot water

Handful golden raisins

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 cup flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups tomato sauce

3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, a few sprigs, leaves chopped

Preparation

1.  Place raisins into a small bowl and pour the hot water over it, allow raisins to plump for about 5 minutes or more.

2.  Meanwhile in a small skillet over low heat lightly toast the pine nuts until they begin to brown; watch them closely the nuts will go from lightly browned to burnt in a very short time.

3.  Drain the raisins and pat them dry, you don't want the stuffing to be too wet. Place the raisins, parsley,  1 tablespoon of the tarragon, the garlic, the bread crumbs,  nuts,  cheese, and the  lemon zest into a bowl  and mix until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

4.  One at a time, butterfly the chicken breasts, and after placing the butterflied breast under a 1 gallon plastic, re-sealable bag that has been split open,  pound the cutlets to a fairly uniform 1/4-inch thickness. 

5.  Season each pounded breast with salt and pepper and layer each breast with 1/4 of the stuffing.  Roll each cutlet jelly roll style and secure the flaps with 2 or 3 toothpicks.

6.  Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and brown the stuffed cutlets until they are browned all over, about 7 or 8 minutes, remove to a dish lined with paper towels and set aside.

7.  Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the brown bits clinging to the bottom of the skillet. Stir in the tomatoes and tarragon, add the bracioli, cover and simmer 15 minutes.

8.  Remove the bracioli to a clean cutting board, slice into 1-inch slices and arrange on a serving platter and pour the sauce over the bracioli slices.   Serve immediately over rice.

Next Week's Posting: Pollo Alla Cacciatora (Chicken Cacciatora)

Pollo Alla Cacciatora (Chicken Cacciatora)

Pollo Alla Cacciatora

(Chicken Cacciatora)

serves 4 to 6

(Italy)

Ingredients

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil (divided use)
2 tablespoon butter (divided use)

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp basil

1/4  tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

1 large carrot, shredded

1 or 2  large, yellow onions peeled and sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped

28 oz. can crushed San Marzano tomatoes

1 cup red wine or 1 cup chicken broth

¼ to ½  cup balsamic vinegar (to taste)

12 Queen sized Spanish green olives, sliced

Preparation

1.  Season chicken breasts with salt and  freshly ground black pepper.  In a large skillet or sauté pan brown chicken breasts in the extra virgin olive oil and butter.

2.  When chicken is nicely browned, remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate to drain and add the remaining olive oil and butter to pan if needed.  Add the onions and sauté until they begin to caramelize.  Add celery, carrots, and  garlic.  Continue to sauté (stirring occasionally) the vegetables until the carrots begin to colour.  Do not allow garlic to burn.

3.  Add tomatoes, wine,  and balsamic vinegar stirring to blend and scraping  bottom of pan to incorporate any brown bits that formed on the bottom of the pan.  Adjust seasoning  adding additional salt, black pepper, red pepper  or balsamic vinegar to taste.

4.  When the tomatoes, wine, and balsamic are combined re-add the browned chicken breasts covering with sauce as well as possible.  Cover, lower heat to a slow simmer and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour stirring occasionally to avoid burning.

5.  A few moments before serving, stir in the green olives and heat for a minute or two until they are warm.  Serve over cooked rice or pasta.

Next Week's Posting: Chicken Louis

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala

4 servings

(Italy)

Veal has become very expensive and, at times, difficult to  get so we developed this recipe as veal alternatives using skinless chicken breasts.    Using butter to sauté the meat will give the dish richness while the addition of oil will retard burning of the butter.

Ingredients

olive oil for frying

1 cup Marsala wine

4 tablespoons of butter

1 pound of mushroom sliced

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pounded to about 1/4- inch thick)

All-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper for dredging the chicken

3/4 cup chicken broth

Preparation

1.   Heat the 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium and sauté the mushrooms until tender and nicely coloured.  Set aside.

2.   Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.

3.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan and sauté the chicken or pork for 1 minute per side. Remove to a platter and keep warm in a low oven.

4.  Add Marsala to the pan. Deglaze, then add chicken stock to the pan and let reduce and thicken.  If the sauce does not thicken add a mixture of cornstarch and water, stirring until it thickens. 

5.   When the sauce has begun to thicken, add the mushrooms and stir to mix in.

6.   Arrange the chicken or pork on a serving platter and pour the sauce and mushrooms over.  Serve immediately.

Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

serves 4

(America)

Neat little chicken salad sandwiches, along with radish and water crest sandwiches,  are traditionally one of the "ladies club bridge" or "high tea" staples.  This recipe adds a definitely Middle Eastern taste to the humble chicken salad finger sandwich  with the addition of curry powder to the recipe and a neat twist by dropping the bread  and wrapping the curry dressed chicken nuggets in pieces of Hearts of Romaine.

Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock

2 large skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt

1/3 cup golden raisins

1 cup roasted cashews, roughly  chopped

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

2 heads of  hearts of Romaine lettuce, separated

Preparation

1.  Preheat oven to 350° F.

2.  Spread the shredded coconut on a cookie sheet, place in the oven and toast for  about 8 minutes until most of the shredded coconut is nicely browned.

3.  In a 3-quart over medium heat bring the chicken  stock to a simmer.   Add the chicken and simmer, uncovered, for  25 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a clean work  surface and cool until the breasts can be handled comfortably.   Either shred the chicken or chop it into 1/2-inch pieces. Set the shredded or chopped chicken aside in medium bowl.

4.  In a separate, small bowl mix together the mayonnaise, yogurt, curry, lime juice, honey, salt, raisins, 1/3 cup chopped cashews, 1/3 cup of toasted coconut, and ¼ cup chopped cilantro.  Check seasoning and adjust to taste.  

5.  Combine the curry/yogurt sauce with the chopped/shredded chicken and thoroughly mix.  

6.  Transfer the curry chicken salad to a platter  over a bed of lettuce , garnish  with extra chopped cilantro and coconut. Serve accompanied by additional lettuce leaves, additional chopped cashews, roughly chopped cilantro, and toasted coconut.  To eat, place some of the chicken salad on a lettuce leaf, top with some chopped cilantro, chopped cashews, and toasted coconut fold and enjoy.

Thai Peanut Chicken Breasts

Thai Peanut Chicken Breasts 

(Thailand)

serves 4

This spicy Thai chicken dish can be made with either boneless, skinless chicken breasts (my personal favourite) or with bone in, skin on chicken pieces.  You may want to consider increasing the sauce ingredients to insure plenty of sauce to serve as an accompaniment and if you like your Thai food really spicy, add the cayenne pepper.

Ingredients

4   skinless, boneless chicken breasts
8-ounces  of  cream  of coconut mixed with 8-ounces water

1/4  cup  creamy peanut butter

1/3  cup  chicken broth

2  tablespoons  soy sauce

2  tablespoons  rice vinegar

1  tablespoon  packed brown sugar

1  tablespoon  toasted sesame oil

1 or 2  teaspoons of Sambal Oelek (fresh  chili paste), depending  on  personal preference

1  teaspoon  fresh ginger, micro-planed

1  clove  garlic, micro-planed

1/8  to 1/4 teaspoon  cayenne pepper, optional if you like it really spicy

1/2  cup  all-purpose flour

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1/2  teaspoon  ground black pepper

2  tablespoons  vegetable oil

2  tablespoons  snipped fresh cilantro

2  cups  hot cooked rice

2 tablespoons of corn starch slurry (1 tablespoon corn starch thoroughly mixed with 1 tablespoon of COLD water)

Preparation

1.  Preheat your oven to 300° F.

2.  Combine flour, salt, and black pepper in a 1 gallon re-sealable plastic bag, add the chicken breasts, one at a time, to flour mixture, shaking to coat and remove to a plate.

3.  In a large skillet, cook chicken, half at a time, in hot oil until brown, turning occasionally. Transfer chicken to an ungreased 3-quart rectangular baking dish.

4.  Whisk together the thinned coconut cream and peanut butter  in a medium sauce pan over medium heat until smooth, add the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, chili  paste, ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper and stir to combine.  To complete the sauce, raise the temperature under the sauce pan to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil; reduce the heat to low simmer and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5.  Pour peanut butter sauce over the breasts, cover loosely with foil and bake the breasts for 1 hour, basting occasionally with the sauce during the hour.  Uncover and continue baking, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes more or until the chicken is very tender.

6. Transfer chicken to a serving platter for a family style service or to individual service plates over a bed of rice for individual service.

7.  Prepare the sauce for service by transferring it to a medium sauce pan and bring  to a boil over high heat; when the gravy comes to a boil add the slurry while constantly stirring until the gravy forms  a thickened sauce.  Transfer the sauce to a gravy boat, spoon some of the sauce over the chicken breasts and sprinkle each breast with some of the cilantro. Serve accompanied by the  remaining sauce, hot cooked, white rice and additional chopped cilantro.

Blue Birds

Blue Birds

Serves 4

(America)

Ingredients

4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts

4 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons of flour

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

4 ounces of blue cheese

Preparation

1.  Lightly pound chicken breasts and dust with flour.

2.  Sauté the breasts in a heavy skillet in 1 tablespoon of butter until golden brown.

3.  In a sauce pan, over low heat melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and add the 3 tablespoons of flour (make a roux).   Cook the butter and flour mixture about 2 minutes, add the milk and stir constantly until the sauce thickens.

4.  Crumble 2 ½ ounces of the blue cheese, the lemon juice, the lemon zest, and the cayenne pepper into the sauces and stir until blended.  Remove from the heat, taste and adjust seasoning.

5.   Place a chicken breast on each diner's plate, pour ¼ of the sauce over each breast or, for a fancier look, first pour ¼ of the sauce onto the plate then place the chicken breast on top of the sauce and sprinkle the breast with some chopped, fresh Italian flat leaved parsley as a garnish.  Crumble the remaining blue cheese and distribute evenly over each breast.

Next Week's Posting:  Linguine con Vongole Piccante Salsa  (Linguini with Spicy Clam Sauce)

Russian Chicken Cutlets

Russian Chicken Cutlets

Serves 6

(Russia)

This is an elegant and interesting treatment for chicken. Since the sauce is a simple Hollandaise you can double its recipe easily.

Ingredients

2 slices white sandwich bread

¼ cup half-and-half cream or sweetened condensed milk

2 to 2½ cups uncooked ground chicken

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

½ cup finely chopped fresh, white mushrooms

7 tablespoons butter

2 cups Japanese Panko bread crumbs

vegetable oil for frying

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 egg yolks, beaten

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation

1.  Remove crusts from the bread, place bread in a large bowl and pour cream over the bread.  Let bread stand until all liquid is absorbed.

2.  Add ground chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper, mushrooms, and 3 tablespoons of softened butter to the soaked bread and mix until well blended.  Chill mixture at least 1 hour so the mixture can be easy to handle.

3.  Shape into 12 pork chop shaped cutlets.  Build a breading station by placing the bread crumbs on a large plate; coat each cutlet on both sides and edges with the bread crumbs; press crumbs on firmly (the formed chicken cutlets should be sticky enough not to need the traditional flour, egg, breadcrumb station).  Chill breaded cutlets in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow coating to firmly set.

4.  Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, add ¼ inch of vegetable to the skillet when it is heated.  When oil is hot add cutlets and fry, turning to fry golden brown on both sides.  As the cutlets are browned remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.  When finished frying the cutlets, place them on an oven-proof serving dish into an oven that has been pre-heated to 375° F oven for about 15 minutes.   Keep the cutlets warm until ready to serve.

5.  Meanwhile, in the top of a double boiler combine the lemon juice and egg yolks and whisk to blend thoroughly.

6.  Add the appropriate amount of water to the lower portion of the double boiler and place it over medium heat.  When the water becomes hot, place the top of the double boiler in place and add 2 tablespoons of butter to the heated lemon juice and egg yolk mixture.  Beat with a whisk until the mixture is smooth and thoroughly blended .

7.  Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and add to the egg yolk mixture a piece at a time; beating until smooth after each addition. 

8.  After all the remaining butter has been added, remove the top of the double boiler from the water and stir in the remaining salt and cayenne pepper.  Place this sauce in a sauce boat.

9.  Either serve the warm cutlets on the serving plate or transfer the warm cutlets to individual service plate along with vegetables of your choice and serve with the Hollandaise sauce on the side. 

Note: a double boiler can be approximated by using two sauce pans, one smaller than the other so it can fit inside the larger. Then putting water in the larger and “floating” the smaller in the larger.

Next week's posting: Blue Birds