I love the challenge of looking through the pantry and fridge and coming up with a memorable meal. Although we prefer dark meat poultry, I had a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer. A can of artichoke bottoms had escaped being stuffed, so I added those to the mix. Next were some baby bellas and and a couple of button mushrooms. My go-to meal at our current favorite Italian eatery is chicken Francese, so I thought I'd use some of that preparation. What follows is a Food of Love original.
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6-8 oz each)
1 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
3 tbs olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms (mix them up)
1 can drained artichoke bottoms, cut into bite-sized pieces
10-12 capers
3 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
2 scallions, chopped
In a large skillet, heat the oil. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper for dredging the breasts. Mix the eggs, milk, and Parmigiano for egg wash. Dredge breasts in flour mixture, then coat in egg wash, and place in the hot oil. Cook until golden brown, turn, then brown the other side (the chicken will NOT be cooked through at this point). Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
Add the butter to the skillet and saute the mushrooms until nicely browned. Add the artichoke bottoms, capers, chicken broth, white wine and reduce heat to low. Place the chicken breasts on top, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the breasts over, replace cover, and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes longer, depending on thickness of breasts. Serve over rice or pasta and sprinkle with chopped scallions.
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TASTE NOTES
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this dish. As I've mentioned, I prefer dark meat, but these breasts, which were thick-cut, were absolutely moist and juicy. I loved the combination of mushrooms and artichokes and confess to preferring the meatiness of the bottoms to the sometimes chewier hearts. The capers lent just the right amount of tartness and contrasted nicely with the buttery finish. I wish I had reduced the sauce further, but since we had brown rice for our starch it didn't matter as much as it would have had we eaten pasta. I will definitely make this again.
