Chicken Cremosi

Nothing good ever comes from thinking about life BC (before Clara.) You just can't compare pre baby life with post. No matter how hard things get I would never want to go back to a time when Tiny wasn't around. However there are plenty of things I miss, one thing being last minute fancy dinners. It wasn't a weekly thing, but occasionally Mike and I would decide to go out for a $100 dinner on a random week night. We would get appetizers, soup, salad, dinner, dessert, and wine, the works. Well needless to say, we don't do that anymore. You don't take a baby out to a fancy restaurant at 7:30, thats when they go to bed!

Yesterday I was thinking about this which in turn made me think about one of my favorite meals, Chicken Cremosi. It is basically chicken in a white wine, lemon, cream sauce. It is heaven on a plate! While I was pregnant I was craving this for lunch one day so I was determined to find a recipe. I knew exactly what was in the sauce so I had an idea of what I was looking for and sure enough I found it. I remember the day I pulled out all the pots and pans, pan-fried the chicken, made the sauce, and a salad... all at around 12:30 in the afternoon just for myself.

I decided today I was going to make it for dinner and even invited my lovely brother-in-law over for dinner (which he rarely turns down an invitation, not because of the food, but because he loves coming to visit his favorite niece :) Sadly I don't have any pictures (booo) but I promise you this is a meal worth making.

This recipe is divided up by pan-fried chicken and then the sauce. I love pan-fried chicken for when I make Chicken Parmesan - after frying I just put it in the oven with shredded parm. for about 12 min. at 350 and its perfect!

Additional side note to cooking chicken - I always butterfly the chicken and gently pound it down. It cooks 5x faster and just looks like a nice big piece of chicken.

Country-fried Chicken

1 - egg

1 cup - milk

2 Tbl. - lemon juice

1.5 tsp. - garlic powder

1 cup - flour

1/3 cup - seasoned bread crumbs

1 tsp. - salt

1 tsp. - baking powder

1 Tbl. - steak seasoning (I use McCormick Grill Mates)

Olive Oil for cooking

In large bowl mix egg, milk, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Let chicken marinate in mixture for at least 15 min.

In a separate bowl mix flour, bread crumbs, salt, baking powder, and steak seasoning.

Add enough oil to coat the bottom of your pan and heat on Med.

Remove chicken from marinade and generously coat in breading mixture and add to frying pan. Cook each side for 4-5 min.

Cremosi Sauce

2 Tbl. - butter

2 Tbl. - flour

1/4 cup - white wine (plus extra for drinking :)

3/4 cup - heavy cream

2 Tbl. - lemon juice

salt and pepper as needed

In a small sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for one min.

Stir in wine, cream and lemon juice and cook until thickened and add salt and pepper to taste.

If you find the sauce too thick add wine and if it is too thin add flour.

This meal is something you can only eat about once a year and will completely ruin any diet you may be on but it is delicious. I served it with some asparagus. (and mashed potatoes... but shhh, don't tell anyone. I can feel my mothers eyes rolling already at the calorie/carb overload of this meal)

Well Tiny is in bed and Mikey is doing his laps in the basement so I am off to enjoy a documentary on the National Geographic channel I have been anxiously awaiting for about 3 weeks, "Amish at the Alter." It is all about the courting and marriage habits of the Amish, love it!

White Bean Chicken Chili

This is NOT a food blog. I do not pretend to know what I am doing in the kitchen. God so kindly blessed me with a husband that will literally eat anything and everything that I give him so I keep cooking around my house very simple.

I mentioned Monday I was going to make this... well something came up. Then I was convinced I was going to make this Tuesday... then something came up. So I was determined to make this recipe today. It could not be any easier and I knew many of my friends could benefit from a nice easy dinner recipe! (This is also a great meal to make on Sunday that will taste just as good reheated during the week when you might not have time to cook :)

3 Main Ingredients - Rotisserie Chicken, Jar of Salsa, Jar of Beans (I use Randall)

Dump the whole jar of beans, and the whole jar of salsa right into a large pot. Take your rotisserie chicken and just shred the meat right off the bones. I use my hands, and the hardest part is trying to not snack on the delicious skin while disposing of it along with the bones. Add 1 tsp of Cumin, and 1 tsp of Chili powder and let simmer for 2 hours on low. Thats it. No joke.

I choose to use a Thick and Chunky style salsa, this way we get some onions, tomatoes, peppers mixed in. If you like a really high volume of veggies you could always add more. Mike is a fan of corn and I have debated adding a can of corn, but I'm not a fan... so I don't.

Tiny was hanging out next to me while I was shredding the chicken at the stove. She could not have been more entertained with herself as she realized how to open and close the cabinets. I am really regretting the numerous hours I spent trying to uninstall all the childproofing fixtures 3 years ago when we first moved in...

Right before serving I like to melt in about a cup of monterey jack cheese. Definitely a personal taste thing. I serve this with sour cream and tortillas. Ta-da!

On a side note - for the thrifty ladies this is a great meal that feeds a family for very little. The total cost for the chicken, salsa, beans, sour cream, tortillas, and cheese was $12. My mom always made this recipe for a family of 5 and when I make it we have plenty of leftovers!

Enjoy!