1/23/2011 Recipe #3 Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

This is a good one for pasta lovers!! Hubby and I were really happy with this one. The only real drawback was it takes concentration or some prep. You are chopping while having to keep an eye out on the cooking chicken, but other than that pretty good. I recommend this dish for date night or even entertaining because it's different yet not too much where someone would be overwhelmed by trying something that is out of the norm. i made a few changes/additions that I think made it better.

Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

This recipe is a modern take on the ol' Cream of Mushroom Chicken. This one is more healthful and almost as easy as pouring that condensed, salty mass out of a can. It will heal a long day!

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1/2 pound orzo pasta (I used bow tie pasta)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
• Pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 12 white mushrooms, sliced
• I didn't use that many mushrooms I really only used about 6-8 each)
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped (I always keep a jar of minced garlic- so much easier- Use a few spoon fulls.)
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped (I used dried)
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced (I only used 1 large one)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (For extra flavor I took out 1/4 cup of the stock and replaced with red wine)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful (Don't skip it really makes the dish pop)

Directions

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo (bow tie) pasta. Cook to al dente. (You can wait a little bit since the pasta cooks faster than the orzo) About 5-10 minutes into cookingh the chicken)
Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice the chicken on an angle. Add the parsley and the chicken back to the skillet to heat up, about 1 minute.
To serve, pile orzo (bow tie pasta) on dinner plates and top with the sliced chicken and sauce.

It's that easy! really was good. Some advice... Be liberal with your seasoning. Although yummy I still though that it could have used something more. My husband salted with garlic salt on his and I sprinkled a little shredded parmesean cheese. Even the kids gobbled it up. Something about pasta is always good foyou them :-) This dish is so versatile that you can really do whatever you want with it. Some thoughts for next time... Add a little bite of sun dried tomoates, add parmesean while finishing the simmer part of the recipe.

Prepping for the meal:
Not much to it. Vince did the shopping this week and had trouble finding the Shitake Mushrooms at our grocery store. Sprouts had them. It was funny... Vince told me he couldn't find any "Skelatore" mushrooms. Huh?!?! Hahaha It was finny to hear him try to remember what they were called. We both got a kick out of that. Vince was really into it this week. He wanted to see what I was doing and even helped keep an eye onthe chickedn to make sure it was cooking just right. He got the chicked to have the yummiest looking crust on the outside. I was scared it would burn but he did good.

So another success! I suggest serving with a nice red wine. Some toasted french bread and a cesar salad is a fantastic addition to this meal. I hope you all give this one a try on that special someone in your life. I mean Valentine's Day is around the corner, you know. Happy Cooking and Thanks again for tuning in.