I am hungry and I don't want to forget this recipe
I made dinner last night and nothing in it came from a box.
I'm not a tremendous cook. I never really learned how to cook meat well, or a variety of ways to prepare it. When it was just me and my son the meals were mostly pasta dishes and casseroles and all of the meat was pre-cooked and found in the freezer aisle.
Since Steve and I have been living together, I've been trying to cook more like an adult. I've had some successes and a fair share of failures.
Last night's meal was not a failure.
I defrosted some boneless, skinless, hormone-free chicken breast [pounded & poked] and marinated it for an hour in 2 tbsp white whine, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp minced garlic, and spread a small dose of dijon mustard on each breast (the chicken's, not my own).
I finely diced half of a white onion and about 4 inches of leek and sauteed them over a medium/low heat for a bit in some olive oil (Steve enjoys the flavor of onions but not the texture so if I miniaturize them and cook them until they are mush he can deal. I love onions. Passionately)
As they cooked I dropped in a tsp of minced garlic, salt & pepper and about a tsp of low sodium, no msg soy sauce. Once the onions started to brown I poured in 1/2 cup chicken broth and let onions simmer. Roughly chopped a partial package of white mushrooms (I don't know what the variety is called but they are the most common in the produce section after Portabelloes.) When the onions looked like a drying mudflat, I tossed in the mushrooms, stirred them about, salt & peppered a bit more, resisted the instinct to add lemon juice, poured in a cup of chicken broth and stirred 'til it was warm, then placed the marinated chicken in the pan. I did not pour the leftover marinating goop into the pan. I did add some broth to the pan so the chicken had a little more coverage.
Employing a lid for my pan, I simmered the chicken on a slightly higher medium heat for 15-18 minutes, flipping frequently (the chicken, I've never been good at cartwheels and such). Then I took the lid off and monitored the chicken for the next five minutes to make sure it cooked through, had sticky brown pan scrapings on both sides, but did not dry out.
To Steve I served it with a few chunks of mushroom that I could separate from the onions (he was standing over my shoulder casting aspersions on Leeks, though he's never actually tried a Leek) and a very nearly perfect baked potato. He raved over the chicken and added it to the list of foods he wants again (Leeks and all). I took more of the oniony pan stuff and ate it with my chicken and as a topping for my baked potato. Overall I was really happy with the meal and I hope I can manage it a second time. I had read a few recipes earlier that day and I had kind of cobbled them together in my head into "how to prepare a moist flavorful chicken without a sauce" instruction. Steve doesn't like sauce and isn't a huge fan of gravy, so I really have to challenge myself when it comes to making meals that he can enthusiastically enjoy. If you've read this far you might be thinking 'why bother' or something along those lines, but I'm a super picky eater myself so I don't mind catering to his tastes. In most things our tastes run parallel and since we've been together he has tried so many new things at my urging, like falafel & Shwarma, Thai food, Indian cuisine. I'm happy for a reason to improve my cooking, when it turns out well I really enjoy cooking.
I'm not a tremendous cook. I never really learned how to cook meat well, or a variety of ways to prepare it. When it was just me and my son the meals were mostly pasta dishes and casseroles and all of the meat was pre-cooked and found in the freezer aisle.
Since Steve and I have been living together, I've been trying to cook more like an adult. I've had some successes and a fair share of failures.
Last night's meal was not a failure.
I defrosted some boneless, skinless, hormone-free chicken breast [pounded & poked] and marinated it for an hour in 2 tbsp white whine, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp minced garlic, and spread a small dose of dijon mustard on each breast (the chicken's, not my own).
I finely diced half of a white onion and about 4 inches of leek and sauteed them over a medium/low heat for a bit in some olive oil (Steve enjoys the flavor of onions but not the texture so if I miniaturize them and cook them until they are mush he can deal. I love onions. Passionately)
As they cooked I dropped in a tsp of minced garlic, salt & pepper and about a tsp of low sodium, no msg soy sauce. Once the onions started to brown I poured in 1/2 cup chicken broth and let onions simmer. Roughly chopped a partial package of white mushrooms (I don't know what the variety is called but they are the most common in the produce section after Portabelloes.) When the onions looked like a drying mudflat, I tossed in the mushrooms, stirred them about, salt & peppered a bit more, resisted the instinct to add lemon juice, poured in a cup of chicken broth and stirred 'til it was warm, then placed the marinated chicken in the pan. I did not pour the leftover marinating goop into the pan. I did add some broth to the pan so the chicken had a little more coverage.
Employing a lid for my pan, I simmered the chicken on a slightly higher medium heat for 15-18 minutes, flipping frequently (the chicken, I've never been good at cartwheels and such). Then I took the lid off and monitored the chicken for the next five minutes to make sure it cooked through, had sticky brown pan scrapings on both sides, but did not dry out.
To Steve I served it with a few chunks of mushroom that I could separate from the onions (he was standing over my shoulder casting aspersions on Leeks, though he's never actually tried a Leek) and a very nearly perfect baked potato. He raved over the chicken and added it to the list of foods he wants again (Leeks and all). I took more of the oniony pan stuff and ate it with my chicken and as a topping for my baked potato. Overall I was really happy with the meal and I hope I can manage it a second time. I had read a few recipes earlier that day and I had kind of cobbled them together in my head into "how to prepare a moist flavorful chicken without a sauce" instruction. Steve doesn't like sauce and isn't a huge fan of gravy, so I really have to challenge myself when it comes to making meals that he can enthusiastically enjoy. If you've read this far you might be thinking 'why bother' or something along those lines, but I'm a super picky eater myself so I don't mind catering to his tastes. In most things our tastes run parallel and since we've been together he has tried so many new things at my urging, like falafel & Shwarma, Thai food, Indian cuisine. I'm happy for a reason to improve my cooking, when it turns out well I really enjoy cooking.