December 18, 2004

lemon chicken, pasta, and a salad

Great, simple dinner tonight. It worked well for the five of us, but would probably work just as well for 10 or 20 people, or more.

Lemon Chicken
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
"Some" butter, enough to brown the chicken breasts with
2T white wine (I recommend the inexpensive Bella Sera Pinot Grigio)
2T lemon juice
Zest from one lemon
1C whipping cream
Salt and pepper
(1) 6oz. package of sliced mushrooms
Thyme leaves, fresh or dried
1/3C or more of grated parmesan chesse

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • Throw the butter in a skillet and brown the chicken breasts, about 10 minutes.
  • Place the chicken in a (13x9) baking dish and drain the butter from the skillet into the baking dish with the chicken.
  • Put the white wine, lemon juice, and lemon zest in the skillet and cook for about a minute, deglazing the pan.
  • Put the cream in the pan and heat through (without boiling). Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Put the mushrooms in the sauce, add a pinch of thyme, and coat the mushrooms.
  • Heat a bit longer, then pour the mushroom and sauce mixture over the chicken in the baking dish.
  • Cover with grated parmesan cheese.
  • Place in the oven and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.
  • Serve chicken and sauce over al dente spaghetti or fettuccini (previously tossed with butter, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic salt).
  • Drink either the rest of the Pinot Grigio or a nice wheat; I had and recommend Blue Moon Belgian-Style Wheat Ale.

Together with a simple romaine and green-leaf salad (dressing: extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt, and basil; whipped until mixed well), this was a wonderful meal in about 40 minutes of cooking time and 10 minutes prep time. Kids loved it (with the exception of the mushrooms), adults loved it. Good time had by all.

Posted by pcg at December 18, 2004 7:44 PM
Comments

How rich would you say this is, given the heavy cream? Do you think anything could be substituted in place of that cream for the benefit of guests striving to eat lean?

Posted by: alan on December 19, 2004 12:19 PM

I did not use heavy cream, but whipping cream. Small difference for someone wanting to eat light, I understand. I suspect milk might suffice (though I would suggest nothing less fatty than whole milk, lest the sauce get *too* watery); I also suspect cutting the cream with some chicken stock might do okay. Maybe substituting cream of {chicken,mushroom} soup would work as well, though I think the measurements would need to be adjusted pretty significantly. But I'm honestly not sure - I have ZERO experience with turning dishes lighter. Quite the opposite, I'm usually looking for ways to fatten the suckers up. :-)

Posted by: pcg on December 19, 2004 1:21 PM

BTW, to answer the question about richness, I would say it's moderately rich. I chose not to dress the pasta very much to try to ensure that the flavors in the sauce wouldn't be overwhelming. But it's pretty happy stuff overall.

Posted by: pcg on December 19, 2004 1:23 PM

Wow. I made this tonight, and really enjoyed it. I went a little heavy on making the sauce, to have extra, so generally increased things to taste. I was worried a bit about over lemon flavor, but in the end it was perfect. My only issue, was that in the oven the sauce was too thin. I'm thinking it would be better to just thicken the sauce up on the stove top, and add combine right at the end. The dressing and salad was a perfect pair, and I really enjoyed it with the radiccio and dark greens in the Italian spring mix I bought.

A keeper, for sure! Thanks Peter!!

Posted by: Bruce on December 23, 2004 5:45 PM
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