After my big shopping trip to Trader Joe’s on Tuesday, I decided to make Barefoot Contessa’s, Chicken with Morels…
Ingredients
1- ounce dried morels, soaked for 30 minutes in 3 cups very hot water
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
1⁄4 cup clarified butter
1⁄3 cup chopped shallots (2 large)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 cup Madeira wine
1 cup (8 ounces) creme fraiche
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.Lift the morels carefully from the hot water in order to leave any grit behind in the liquid. Rinse a few times to be sure all the grittiness is gone. Discard the liquid and dry the morels lightly with paper towels. Set aside.
Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Dredge them in flour and shake off the excess. Heat half the clarified butter in a large saute pan and cook the chicken in 2 batches over medium-low heat until browned on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to an ovenproof casserole.
Add the rest of the clarified butter to the pan along with the shallots, drained morels, and garlic. Saute over medium heat for 2 minutes, tossing and stirring constantly. Pour the Madeira into the pan and reduce the liquid by half over high heat, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the creme fraiche, cream, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3⁄4 teaspoon pepper. Boil until the mixture starts to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake for 12 minutes, or until the chicken is heated through. To make ahead, refrigerate the chicken and sauce in the casserole and reheat slowly on top of the stove.
Unfortunately for me, dried morels at Wholefoods were running around $8 per half ounce.. The Ina recipe required one ounce.. So, yes, I wouldn’t have had to spend $40 on the shrooms but 16 bones is still a lot of money for a random dinner… therefore, I substituted her dried morels with cremini’s… I also didn’t feel like buying “clarified” butter, so I used my regular Lurpak instead. Oh, and I forgot, I used gluten free flour instead of the regular kind…Aside from those three substitutes, I followed the rest of her recipe and made a delicious dinner. Coupled with some jasmine rice and roasted brussel sprouts with garlic, this dinner was divine…
Tuesday
BREAKFAST: Fage with strawberry and sunflower seeds
LUNCH: Nothing.. was passed out with my mouth wide open on the plane.
DINNER: Barefoot Contessa’s Chicken with Morels, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Jasmine Rice
my non dried morels....
pre-roasted brussel sprouts....
I really hate chicken breast cause I always feel like it dries out.. Lala suggested I soak the breasts in milk.... helps keep them "moist" (a word I really detest but there is no alternative)
My sauteed chicken breasts... I used gluten free flour
My browned cremini's, garlic and shallots with Madeira...
Okay so this picture doesn't look to pretty but trust me, it was delicious.. I'm also starting to think when I make this again, I'm going to substitute the creme fraiche with greek yogurt....
Lala and I started with tomatoes and burrata... Heaven...
DINNER!
Wednesday: I had loads of leftovers from Tuesday night but I didn’t want to eat the exact same dinner.. What’s a girl to do? Try to make the leftovers into something else… I went with a sort of stir-fry… With a few dashes of Cholula, it was like a whole new meal…..
BREAKFAST: Fage with strawberry and sunflower seeds
LUNCH: my mom packed me a don katsu of the plane but again, I was passed out so I ate it for lunch today.
The Don Katsu lunch that my mom packed me.. so cute...
DINNER: Barefoot Contessa’s chicken with morels, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Jasmine Rice
My chicken with morels with brussel sprouts mash-up...
um when are you going to make this for me?