Have you ever had the feeling of utterly losing control over something that belongs to you in the first place? Well!! It happened to me recently when both my mother and mother-in-law decided to pay us a visit. I utterly lost control……over my kitchen!! I finally had to decide not to enter my beloved space during the entire period of their stay. Of course, it was nice to simply relax while mommy dearest was busy dishing up things that I love. Just that I had no way of creating something experimental when the pangs of experimentation would strike (which, in my case, is quite often!). Plus, my kitchen not being very large, there was just no room for three people at one go (living in the middle of a crowded city has its own disadvantages!). So, I had to forfeit my right of being in my own kitchen for one whole month.
So, the weekend when they left for their own homes, I was ecstatic. Don’t judge me here, I was sad that I wouldn’t be meeting my family for at least the next six months. I was ecstatic because I had regained control of my kitchen and I could finally have a go at those little recipes that I had been collecting for a month. I decided to bring the experimental me back into the kitchen. I went through my recipe collection for three whole days to find that one perfect dish and finally came up with this! I chose this because the major ingredients used in this dish are favorites of both me and the husband. So read on….
Chicken in Creamy Mushroom sauce
Ingredients:
500 grams boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 packet mushrooms (finely sliced)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
4-5 cloves of garlic (very finely chopped)
½ cup white wine (I used chenin blanc)
½ cup heavy cream
2 heaped tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Method:
Sprinkle salt, pepper and flour over the chicken breasts and give them a good rub. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the chicken breasts until they reach a crisp golden brown colour. You do not need to cook the chicken through at this stage. Next, put the fried chicken pieces in a pressure cooker and fill it with just enough water to cover the chicken. Pressure cook the chicken up to 2-3 whistles (my chicken pieces were quite large). In the meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet, add the onions and fry until translucent. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes. Next, add the mushrooms and fry for 5-6 minutes or until the same starts turning golden. Add the wine and bring it to a boil. Cover the skillet with a lid and let the liquid reduce to half. Once the liquid has reduced, remove the chicken from the stock, add the stock to the skillet and bring the same to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, add the cream and the chicken and season with salt and pepper (remember, the chicken is already seasoned….so exercise caution!). Let the sauce thicken to your desired quantity. This will also help the chicken absorb the sauce in all its goodness. When the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken and arrange on a plate. Pour the thick, brown sauce over the chicken and serve with mashed potatoes, stir-fried veggies and some garlic bread.
Enjoy!!
I didn’t have garlic bread handy. So I melt some butter, roasted some mashed garlic in the butter and pan-toasted some regular bread in the garlic butter mix….it was heavenly! Trust me!
Love,
Anjali D.
