“I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.” ~ W.C. Fields
I asked John to try to recreate one of my favorite dishes from The Cheesecake Factory, and this is the sumptuous result!
Chicken Madeira
1 large skinless chicken breast, butterflied
Add the following ingredients to a large ziploc bag:
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper, and Herbes de Provence
Place the chicken in the bag, zip it, and shake it until it’s fully coated with the flour mixture. This creates the double advantage of sealing in the flavor and thickening the sauce.
Add:
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
to a large skillet over a medium-high flame. When the garlic starts to brown, add the chicken to the pan. Cook until white through – about 8 minutes per side.
Add 1 Mexican onion, sliced into rings, (or 1 leek, or 3 green onions), stirring until it begins to soften. Reduce heat to medium heat. (It’s up to you whether you remove the chicken from the pan, or not, but if you do, place it in a warm oven while you make the sauce.)
Add:
1/2 cup Madeira wine. Deglaze pan.
Stir in:
1 cup of chicken broth.
Continue to stir until sauce thickens, turning chicken to coat.
Place one slice of mild white cheese (we used Havarti) on chicken and cover until it melts. Cut chicken in half, place on dinner plates and cover with sauce.
Herb Mashed Potatoes
4 Russet Potatoes, diced
1/2 cup Herb Butter (we added clipped herbs from our garden: tarragon, chives, thyme, and a bit of garlic to softened butter – this butter is also excellent as a topping for steak, baked potatoes, and any number of things)
1/3 cup Sour Cream
Salt & Pepper to taste
Boil potatoes until you can pierce them easily with a fork. Drain, pour back into warm pan, add butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper, and mash with a potato masher until desired consistency.
Oven-Roasted Asparagus
1 Bunch Fresh Asparagus
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place asparagus in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, turning with a spatula half-way through.
Alstroemeria from our garden.
These recipes are provided for your personal use. If you publish them, or re-post them, please give me credit. Grazie e Buon Appetito!
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