Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Mediterranean Chicken Normanno

As is my habit, I like to make meals on the wing in the iron chef fashion. The downside is that I like to drink wine. Sometimes I use a very big glass. This usually results in meals that I can’t replicate 6 months later when asked. So….I began keeping a composition book in the kitchen, and when I make something everyone really likes, I write down the recipe, and give it a name. This way, when I’m asked to make it again, I can remember what the heck they are talking about…but then no one else knows what I am talking about. This results in some great conversations.

Diane: Why don’t you make that Chicken thingy again?
Me: What was in it?
Diane: Capers
Me: (looking up all the chicken recipes) Mediterranean Chicken Normanno?
Diane: Whatever
Sometime Later
Nicole: What’s for dinner?
Me: Mediterranean Chicken Normanno
Nicole: What the heck is that?
Me: Something I made once
Nicole: Whatever
Later
Marissa: What’s for dinner?
Me: Mediterranean Chicken Normanno
Marissa: What’s in it?
Me: I made it before… It has stuff in it
Marissa: Sounds great
Still Later
Isabella: What’s that?
Me: Mediterranean Chicken Normanno
Isabella: I don’t like it
Me: It has macaroni in it
Isabella: I like it

So…here is the recipe that they all seem to love (I sense this because they throw that “signature dish” phrase around when I make it...and there isn't any left for me to take to work for lunch.

Ingredients
-2 lbs of whole chicken breast
-2 lbs of whole crimini mushrooms, halved
-1 can pitted olives, halved
-1/2 cup capers
-1 32 oz. can Tuttorosa plum tomatoes, halved and seeds removed. Save the juice.
-3/4 cup homemade pesto
-1 ½ cups of red wine (I open a bottle, and use the “I lost the cork” excuse to finish it)
Directions
In a pan/pot, sauté the whole breasts at high heat until brown each side. Set aside
Add the mushrooms…sauté until done.
Add the olives & capers. Simmer 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, pesto and red wine, and simmer 10 more minutes.
Meantime, slice the chicken into thin slices, then add to the pot. Simmer 3 minutes.

I served this on a bed of homemade spinach fettuccine that my daughters and I whipped together just beforehand in an effort to stop them from asking me questions I couldn’t answer. It works.

Sorry if the picture is blurry. I blame it on the missing cork.

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