Mike's Polish Smothered Chicken

I have had this recipe for two years, almost to the date, sitting in my pantry with ALL the other recipes that I have accumulated over the years. I found it on The Food Network and it seemed really good, but I was always too "chicken" to try it. Now that I have gotten a little more gutsy with my flavors and difficulty level I decided to give it a whirl.

We were very pleased with this recipe. Vince got to do his manly thing and man the grill. That is what he does best after all and I did what I did best which was supervise and give orders as to what to do next. This was a fun meal because it was virtually all done on the grill, with the exception of the bacon which I will discuss later.
 The Recipe

Recipe courtesy Mike Knapik

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Emeril's Chicken Contest

·  Cook Time: 35 min

·  Level: Easy

·  Yield: 4 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min

Inactive Prep: 8 hr 0 min

Cook: 35 min

Total: 9 hr 5 min

Ingredients

• Italian dressing or marinade, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Oregano, to taste
• Basil, to taste
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 medium red onion, sliced
• Butter
• 1 package sliced mushrooms
• 4 large Portobello mushroom caps
• Olive oil
• Cajun seasoning (Didn't have so left it out)
• 4 strips bacon
• Garden vegetable cream cheese
• Sliced mozzarella cheese
• Shredded Monterey Jack
• Cooked dirty rice, for serving

Combine Italian dressing, garlic powder, oregano, and basil into a plastic bag. Add the chicken breasts and mix well. Marinate in refrigerator overnight.

Preheat grill over medium heat.
Make foil pouches of sliced red onion with butter and another pouch of sliced mushrooms with butter. Place onto hot grill and cook until tender. Drizzle Portobello caps with olive oil and place on hot grill to soften. Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Grill chicken breasts until cooked throughout, sprinkling with Cajun seasoning and garlic powder, set to side of grill to keep warm. At same time, grill 4 strips of bacon.
Spread the cooked Portobellos with a thick layer of cream cheese. Place 1 cooked chicken breast onto each, spoon on some of the sliced mushrooms, and finally some of the sliced onions. Place a strip of bacon onto that, and then cover with sliced mozzarella and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, put back on grill to melt cheese, and serve with a side of dirty rice

The Outcome
The recipes was definitely fantastic. The girls likes the chicken and Vince and I really enjoyed everything that was going on in this recipe.  Looking at this recipe, you might think there is a lot going on, but it's all worth it in the end. Mmmmm

Changes:
Assembling the chicken onto the mushrooms was a bit of a chore. I suggest that when you make this meal you actually make sure the "nub" of a stem is completely cut off to make the mushroom cap more level. We used some pretty big chicken breast. They could have been cut in half. The extra mushrooms on top were a little bit of mushroom overload. Many people don't like mushrooms, but give this recipe a try. It may surprise you. Again, just omit the extra mushrooms that go on top.  The onions that were in the pouch with the butter were good but I think if they would have been carmelized with a little whsurprite wine for extra flavor. Vince and I even threw around the idea of cooking the bacon in small pieces in the onions and topping on the chicken. Then like the recipe stated add the cheese and let melt. I know you have read this recipe and saw that you spread cream cheese on the Portobello Mushroom Caps and you may have thought to yourself.... "What? Cream Cheese?" Yes Cream Cheese.... It definitely made the meal complete. Very very good. I think I may even need to use this idea on future chicken dishes.

So back to talking about the bacon... Cooking it on the grill was a disaster because we decided to walk away from the grill. BIG mistake. We came back just 5 minutes laters to find the bacon on fire!!!!! Well bacon is very fatty as we all know, so if you decide to cook it on te grill you have to watch it. I simpy suggest cooking indoors like you always do. Or if you decide to go the carmelized onion with bacon pieces chop it up and throw it in the pan and saute.


Thie versatile dish is a good one for entertaining. I think a dinner party with friends is a great reason to make this scrumsious meal. One tihng I want all my readers to understand is.... Don't be afraid to go out of the norm and try something new. You may surprise yourself. Doing these new recipes week afer week has heped me to learn new ideas and flavors to incorporate. I find that I am happiest in the kitchen cooking away for my family and thinking about their thoughts for the meal ahead. It's a great feeling. I think sitting around the dinner table (TV off) and enjoying each other's time only brings the ones you love closer. With the busy lives that we all lead, on night at  the dinner table makes a world of difference. Sharing your time together with good food and conversation on a Sunday evening is so great that words just can't describe it. So, give it a try and let me know what you made and how everything was.

As always I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and sharing this experience with me. We are just in month 3 everyone. We got a lot of meals to go.... So stay tuned. Mmmmmmmmm