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Chicken Normandy (Poulet à la Normande)

Serves 2.

Time requirement: 25-30 minutes.

At it base this is chicken cutlet breaded and sautéed as if one were making Chicken Milanese, but it is finished with a classic sauce of cream, mushrooms, and calvados (apple brandy); these are the three elements that give the dish is Norman identity. It is very easy to prepare and delicious.

What you will need:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves.
Spray oil.
8 ounces of button mushrooms.
½ teaspoon salt.
2 eggs.
2 cups panko breadcrumbs.
½ cup heavy cream.
½ cup chicken stock.
2 tablespoons white wine.
¼ cup calvados or apple brandy.
3 tablespoons of clarified butter or a neutral oil like a light olive oil.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F. and warm 3 plates in the oven
Chopped parsley as an optional garnish.

Preparation:

Clean and slices the mushrooms. Spray some oil in a 12-inch nonstick fry pan and warm the pan over a medium heat, add the sliced mushrooms: Spray the mushrooms with a little oil, sprinkle the salt over them, and toss. Cook the mushrooms over a low heat for 12-15 minutes, tossing them from time to time. The purpose of this low heat, long cooking method, is to avoid the use of a lot of oil that the mushrooms would otherwise absorb. When the mushrooms are done remove them to plate. Wipe out the pan with some paper towels.

Place the plates in the oven to warm.

While the mushrooms are cooking, flatten the chicken breasts by placing them between two sheets of wax paper and pound them with the bottom of a heavy pan. Don’t be too rough. You do not want to break the countertop. Season with a touch of salt and pepper, and if you want, a hint of garlic powder (the garlic, is not customarily but I like it.)

Crack the eggs on a plate and beat them thoroughly to combine the whites and yolk.

On another plate place the breadcrumbs.

Combine the cream, stock, and wine in a bowl and mix them thoroughly.

Measure out the calvados and set aside.

Now it’s time to cook the chicken. To the pan that you cooked the mushrooms, add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter, and if you do not have that use a neutral oil like a light olive oil. Heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the chicken to the egg and turn it several times.

When the oil is hot, lower the heat to a medium low.

Acting quickly, dredge the chicken in the breadcrumbs, then again in the egg, then again in the breadcrumbs and then slip the chicken into the plan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side. You want to achieve a nice even brown crust from the bread crumbs.

Remove the chicken to one of the warming plates in the oven.

Add the calvados to the frypan and deglaze the bottom of the pan, add the mushrooms to the pan along with the cream mixture. Gently cook until the cream sauce reduces to the thickness of an uncooked egg yolk.

Divided the sauce between the two warm plates and top each with a chicken cutlet. Add some chopped parsley as a garnish if so desired.

A Real Pantry Challenge....

Chicken with Curry and Lime

Serves 2.

Time requirement: 25 minutes.
What you will need:

This recipe is a challenge because it asks for items that may not be in tour the pantry. Besides a nice curry powder, you need ground asafetida, ground combava (kaffir lime powder), and pomegranate molasses. If you acquire these items, I am certain will find other uses for these flavor building ingredients.

12-16 ounces of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs or breast cut into long thin strips suitable for stir fry.
2 tablespoons of light olive oil.
1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil.
½ teaspoon ground combava. See note at the end of the recipe to replace this item.
½ teaspoon ground asafetida.
½ teaspoons ground roasted cumin.
1 ½ teaspoon of curry powder. (There is a recipe for curry powder in the chapter Building Blocks).
A garlic clove put through a garlic press.
½ cup plain yogurt.
2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses.
Boiled rice to accompany. (There is a recipe for boiled rice in the chapter Building Blocks).

Preparation:

Place the olive and sesame oils in a 10-inch frypan. Add ½ teaspoon each ground asafetida, combava (kaffir lime powder), ground roasted cumin, and 1½ teaspoon of curry powder. Heat until the spices are fragrant and sizzling in the oil. Add the chicken. Toss, stir, and otherwise move the chicken in the pan for 5 minutes. Add the garlic. Add yogurt and pomegranate molasses. Toss and stir for 2 minutes.

Turn off heat. Cover and let rest 2 minutes. Serve over rice.

While different, but equally good, if there is no combava powder, replace it with the zest of one lime.

Steak Au Poivre, A Second Look

Serves 2.

Time requirement: 15-20 minutes. Plus, time to soak the green peppercorns in cognac.

At the risk of repeating myself, a avoid this dish because it is usually prepared with the beef fillet, which is too mild for the accompanying sauce. Also, the sauce is usually to peppery because it consists of whole green peppercorns. So after too many attempts to be good for my lipid panel, I recommend this version.

What you will need:

Four to 24 hours in advance, grind 1 teaspoon dried green peppercorns and set them to soak in ¼ cup cognac.
2 chuck eye steaks about 6-ounces each and 1 to 1¼ inch thick. (Alternatively, choose a single ribeye or New York strip about 12-16 ounces and 1 to 1 ¼ inch thick. I select the chuck eye because is a good size 5-6 pounces each), it has a portion of the tender ribeye plus some chewier tasty bits of the chuck, and plenty of marbling. It holds up well to the pepper sauce.
¼ to ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
2 tablespoons finely diced or chopped shallots
1 tablespoon clarified butter (or ½ tablespoons refined (not extra virgin) olive oil and butter.
¼ cup veal stock (or use an unsalted beef stock from the store).
¼ cup heavy cream.
A dash or two of Worchester sauce.
Warm serving plates.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 250 degree F and place in it a pan for the steak(s) to rest while the sauce is prepared.

As noted, grind 1 teaspoon of green peppercorns and add to ¼ cup cognac, preferable 4-24 hour in advance.

Pat dry the meat with paper towels and sprinkle with the salt. If time allows, let the meat rest on the counter 30-60 minutes.

Select a frypan that will accommodate your steak(s). Heat it over a medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the clarified butter (or the butter/oil combination). When the oil is hot slip your steak(s) in the pan and cook for two minutes on each side. This should allow for a nice even browning on both sides. Remove the steaks to the pan in the oven.

Add the shallots to the pan, lower the heat to medium-low and cook until they are soft and take on a little color.

Pour the combination of green peppercorns and cognac to the pan. Stir and let the cognac burn off. Add the veal stock to the pan and worchester sauce. Reduce by half. Add the cream and reduce my half. Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust for salt.

Place you steaks on warm serving plates and divided the sauce between them.

Because the quantity of peppercorns is muted, but because they were ground and soaked in the cognac, I find this to be the perfect mix of peppery fire and the taste of good beef cooked perfectly.