Chicken "Paillard"

I promised that I would try to update my blog more often...and I am really doing my best to keep this promise! Not as easy as I thought! Soccer still is an everyday happening, and Bob is still traveling a lot! Thank you everyone for your patience! I do not know who you are, but I see that some of you are checking regularly (thanks Mountain View for checking out so regularly!).

So thinking of you...I tried a new dish! We are pretty much done with grilling. Or at least I am! I had no games to go to, no kids to pick up...but I had time to cook!!!

I bought chicken breasts, skinless, assorted mushrooms, spinach and just got in the kitchen! The result must have been pretty decent because Dylan told me it was the best chicken dish ever - either it was true, or he had something to be forgiven for, that I still haven't found out!!!

Chicken Paillard

serves 6



6 chicken breasts, skinless
3/4 cup all purpose flour
Olive oil
1 1/2 cup white wine + 1 cup to finish the sauce
1 lemon, skin peeled

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb assorted mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 bags of fresh spinach, washed and dried
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche
Salt and pepper to taste



Prepare the mushrooms:
Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add the garlic, saute for a couple of minutes.
Add the mushrooms and saute until they start taking on a golden color. season with salt and pepper. Add half the parsley and set aside.

Prepare the chicken:
Butterfly the breasts and pound them until they get really thin. Dredge them in flour and set aside.
In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. Working in several batches (2 at a time), cook the chicken on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and transfer to a sheet pan. Deglaze the juices with 1/2 cup of white wine. Add the strips of lemon skin. Transfer the sauce to a bowl. Repeat until all the chicken is cooked. Keep warm in a 170F oven, covered with aluminum foil.

Prepare the spinach:
Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 7 minutes. Keep warm.

Reheat the sauce and add more wine, or chicken broth if you have some, and reduce for about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
Reheat the mushrooms, adding the butter for silky sauce, and the remaining parsley.
Add the cream to the spinach.

Serve one breast of chicken, topped with the sauce, with the mushrooms and spinach as side dishes.



...and let me know if I should ask Dylan if he is hiding something, or if it really is that good!!!