Sunday, October 14, 2007

Mmmmm, mushrooms!

Like I mentioned, this month's Cooking Light has some great-looking "wild" mushroom recipes. And I had a bag of beautiful dried porcinis that my bosses brought me back from Italy last year that have been screaming to be used in something wonderful. Tonight's dinner definitely fit the bill, although it was almost a shame to grind such gorgeous, Grade A porcinis into a fine porcini powder. The rest I'm saving to go atop an elegant risotto or pasta.


Porcini-Dusted Chicken Scaloppine
Cooking Light, October 2007

This dish puts dried porcini mushroom powder to use as a flavorful coating for chicken cutlets. If fresh porcini or chanterelle mushrooms are available, use them for the sauce. Serve with steamed haricots verts and garlic mashed potatoes.

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1/2 ounce)
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced shallots (about 1)
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups sliced wild or cultivated mushrooms (about 1/2 pound) [I used a combo of porcini, shiitake, and oyster]
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley [I omitted]

Place porcini mushrooms in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground. Slice chicken breast halves in half horizontally. Sprinkle chicken pieces with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with porcini powder, shaking off excess powder.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 chicken pieces to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until chicken is lightly browned and done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with 1 teaspoon oil and remaining 4 chicken pieces.

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add 3 cups mushrooms; cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Stir in wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add broth to pan; simmer until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Stir in sour cream; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and parsley.

4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken pieces, about 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey - I might eat mushrooms like this! There is no texture issue when they're grated!

aggie94 said...

Except for the big pile of cooked mushrooms that goes in the sauce!