Cooking with Flew presents: Mint Chicken!
Jan. 18th, 2010 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flewellynSo, on today's edition, I'm finally delivering on the promise of the Mint Chicken recipe. This is a family recipe that dates back to my childhood, when my father and I invented it one Wednesday evening, while my mother and sister were coming home from my sister's ballet lesson. Normally, we would have just had noodles, and so my mom and sis had bought hamburgers for themselves. But, this time, we decided to surprise them!
And a surprise it was. The mint chicken became quite popular in my family and among our friends, and became noteworthy as one of those "never made the same way twice" recipes, mostly due to randomness of ingredients. But, it's also been experimental for some time.
Tonight, however, while cooking for myself and my friend Sarah, I finally managed to hit on what I think is the perfected form. So, here is Mint Chicken 2010!
You will need these ingredients:
So, first thing to do is cut the chicken up into cubes. If you have whole mushrooms, slice them up at this time as well. It's also a good idea, especially if you're cooking by yourself, to prepare the other ingredients now: mix the white wine in a measuring cup with half a cup of water, the garlic, parmesan cheese, and mint leaves. Try to crush the mint leaves a bit to release their oils. It's good to have this stuff prepared ahead of time, so you can move quickly: think "mise en place".
Once that's ready, melt the butter in the skillet on high heat. When the butter is melted, add the mushroom pieces and cover. You want the mushrooms to reduce a bit in size, and release their liquid.
When the mushrooms are nice and brown, and there's a good amount of liquid in the pan, add the chicken. Brown the chicken in the pan with the mushrooms and butter in there.
Once that's done, put in the rest of the ingredients and stir. You want everything mixed well, and the cheese to melt into the liquid. Stir it until it's well mixed, and then cover and let it simmer for about ten minutes.
After ten minutes, check on it. You'll know it's ready when the sauce has thickened a bit. If it isn't thick enough, you can add some cornstarch or flour.
That's it! Take it off and pour it over the noodles or rice. Good vegetable sides are broccoli, green beans, or asparagus. As for drinks, I can't recommend a wine, but pomegranate lemonade is very good with it.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Cooking With Flew. Remember: less time cooking means more time eating!
And a surprise it was. The mint chicken became quite popular in my family and among our friends, and became noteworthy as one of those "never made the same way twice" recipes, mostly due to randomness of ingredients. But, it's also been experimental for some time.
Tonight, however, while cooking for myself and my friend Sarah, I finally managed to hit on what I think is the perfected form. So, here is Mint Chicken 2010!
You will need these ingredients:
- Two pounds of chicken, breasts or thighs, boneless and skinless. I used thighs.
- 8 oz. of fresh button mushrooms. I bought presliced ones, but you can also buy whole ones that you slice. Do NOT use canned.
- A handful of mint leaves, fresh. You can probably find these among the herbs in the produce section. Though, if you have some growing in your yard (like my family did in New York), you can just pick some of those.
- Two tablespoons of garlic. I used minced garlic, but pressed cloves are fine too. Do not use garlic powder or garlic salt.
- Butter, about two tablespoons. You can use margarine if you are some kind of philistine and have no joy in your soul.
- Cooking wine, white. You will not need much, probably a third of a cup is fine.
- 6 oz of parmesan cheese. You can use the powder stuff, though grated is better.
- Something to serve the stuff over, like rice or a short, broad pasta.
So, first thing to do is cut the chicken up into cubes. If you have whole mushrooms, slice them up at this time as well. It's also a good idea, especially if you're cooking by yourself, to prepare the other ingredients now: mix the white wine in a measuring cup with half a cup of water, the garlic, parmesan cheese, and mint leaves. Try to crush the mint leaves a bit to release their oils. It's good to have this stuff prepared ahead of time, so you can move quickly: think "mise en place".
Once that's ready, melt the butter in the skillet on high heat. When the butter is melted, add the mushroom pieces and cover. You want the mushrooms to reduce a bit in size, and release their liquid.
When the mushrooms are nice and brown, and there's a good amount of liquid in the pan, add the chicken. Brown the chicken in the pan with the mushrooms and butter in there.
Once that's done, put in the rest of the ingredients and stir. You want everything mixed well, and the cheese to melt into the liquid. Stir it until it's well mixed, and then cover and let it simmer for about ten minutes.
After ten minutes, check on it. You'll know it's ready when the sauce has thickened a bit. If it isn't thick enough, you can add some cornstarch or flour.
That's it! Take it off and pour it over the noodles or rice. Good vegetable sides are broccoli, green beans, or asparagus. As for drinks, I can't recommend a wine, but pomegranate lemonade is very good with it.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Cooking With Flew. Remember: less time cooking means more time eating!
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-19 01:52 pm (UTC)wings
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wind :=
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Date: 2010-01-26 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 04:19 am (UTC)Incidentally, if anyone reading this is looking for a good wine pairing, we made (and ate!) it with a Columbia Crest Riesling and it was excellent.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 04:28 am (UTC)Glad you liked it!
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Date: 2010-01-27 04:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 04:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 11:14 am (UTC)