From the ArcaMax Publishing, Recipes by Zola Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/zola/s-188109-379563
Editor's Note: Zola is still floating around the Mediterranean on
an Italian cruise ship. We are sure she is going to return with lots
of fun stories, but in the meantime we are running this oldie but
goodie from the archives. Also, before she left, Zola’s computer
crashed and the email wizards have not yet been able to restore her
Zola Mail, so she sends her regrets. She has not been able to answer
Zola mail for over two weeks now and will not be able to get it until
she returns but she promises to answer all of it in early May.
Margaret Hamilton "Reincarnated"
I have a brand new fashion accessory. It's black and shiny, sort of
the patent-leather look. It fits like a glove, and while it looks
awkward, uncomfortable, and in some respects downright silly, everyone
is wearing them.
It's my new bike helmet.
Oh yeah, I got a new bike too.
I had been reading about a special bike in a catalog. My husband has
been hinting that maybe he'd like to get a bike to ride short
distances in Chicago or maybe do longer rides along the lakeshore.
This bike looked like it would do the trick, so I showed it to him. He
jumped all over the idea and we decided we'd both get bikes for an
Easter treat.
He got his first. Mine had to be ordered. It's called an Amsterdam
bike. It's the bike that commuters all over Europe ride to work;
especially those in the Netherlands; where just about everyone rides a
bike to work. It looks very retro. People stop and stare and say,
"Hey, cool bike!"
We both got black bikes with white trim. They have a very comfortable
brown leather seat; the old-fashioned kind that is triangular in
shape. It looks like the seat is right out of the 50's except it has a
special, new spring system in it that absorbs the shocks of pot holes
and speed bumps really well. The handlebars are my favorite. They
stick out quite wide and sort of wrap around toward you as you sit
straight up on your seat. I was so used to racing bikes where you bend
forward over the bars, this is really different. It's got fenders, a
chain cover and even that little flap on the bottom of the back fender
that keeps rain from splashing up at your butt. I got the one with the
wicker basket on the front too! I can just see me coming back from the
farmers market with carrots, leeks and flowers sticking out the top of
my basket.
My first moments on the bike were harrowing! I had not been on a bike
in 26 years. They say you never forget how to ride, but you'd never
know if you saw me starting off! I wobbled like a little 5 year old;
unsteady and downright petrified! It was hilarious!
Once I was comfortable enough to measure my emotions and physical
state I started laughing. I felt like I was on the top of a
double-decker bus! I was up so high! The perfect vision of me riding
this bike is to recall Margaret Hamilton in the early scenes of The
Wizard of Oz. She's riding down a country road in Kansas. I could even
hear that little "do-do, do-do" ditty in my head as I rode along.
Then came a couple of shocks! I had heard what to do, but had not
absorbed the instructions that had been given to my husband 2 weeks
before. I wanted to stop, and my first inclination was to grab the
brakes below the handlebars. Nothing! I squeezed a few times in panic
and then remembered I had a coaster brake. I had not experienced
stopping a bike in that fashion since I was about 11 years old. I had
to think fast and work out how to do that.
Okay, I was fine. No crash, so I started out again. This time I was
approaching a stop sign and decided to slow down before I did my
breaking. Well, when I rode a race bike I used to back peddle while I
was coasting. I did it this time, just out of habit, and about sent
myself reeling over the front of the bike! How short can my memory
get! I had just stopped using the same method of peddling backward and
this time I thought I was just going to spin. Instead I had slammed on
my brakes! I didn't need to learn that lesson twice!
So we stuck to side streets for quite some time. I just wanted to be
able to ride my bike and breathe. I also had to master the gear
shifting. There are only 3 gears on an Amsterdam bike. The real big
difference in shifting is you shift while you coast. I was used to
just the opposite on a racing bike. This whole bike-riding thing was
going to take some getting used to!
Then we hit traffic. Crossing up to 4 lanes to get across an
intersection; even on a Sunday afternoon was not something I relished.
I got through it though.
My biggest fear going forward is that those driving in cars are going
to assume I'm one of the usual, insane bikers who weave in and out of
traffic like kamikazes on a mission. Those folks know what they are
doing. I sure don't. I'm hoping the drivers will see that I'm on this
retro bike, I'm not 20 years old and that I'm just trying to enjoy my
sunny afternoon. Do you think they can take all that in and give some
slack? We'll see.
Now to today's recipe. It's a new entree I developed last week. I had
a hankering for a creamy sauce for chicken and decided the easiest way
to make a French chicken cheese sauce would be to borrow from the
selection of French cheeses. I had never thought of using Boursin in a
sauce before. I'm sure others have, but it was news to my brain.
This dish is very easy and tastes good enough to serve to company too.
I've even added a couple of easy side dish recommendations at the end
of the recipe.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola
Cornmeal Crusted Chicken with a Boursin-mushroom sauce
Serves 4
For the Chicken
4 skinless chicken breast halves, washed and dried
2 cups milk
(skim or 2% are fine)
Cornmeal for dusting, 1 cup should do
it
3 Tbl butter, divided
2 Tbl Extra virgin olive oil
For the Sauce
4 shallots peeled and diced
1 cup chicken broth
2 - 4.4
ounce packages of Boursin cheese. Garlic and herb flavored. You'll
find this in tubs in the cheese section
16 oz. sliced button
mushrooms (or if you want to be fancy you can use any exotic
mushrooms. Morels are in season, or cremini, chanterelles, etc.)
8 cherry tomatoes cut in half
Put the milk in a shallow baking pan (9 X 13 inch). Place the chicken
in with the milk and let it soak 15 - 30 minutes. If you are going to
leave it longer, put it in the refrigerator.
Place the cornmeal on a dinner plate. Take each piece of chicken out
of the milk and dredge it in the cornmeal. That means place it in the
cornmeal, press down on it so the cornmeal adheres to the chicken.
Using a fork, turn the chicken over and do this on the other side so
the entire piece of chicken is coated in cornmeal. Do this with all 4
pieces.
Get out a large sauté pan and heat the olive oil and 2 Tbl of
the butter. When the butter is melted add the chicken. Sauté on
medium until the first side of the chicken gets a nice brown crust.
This should take about 5 minutes. Don't be tempted to peek. If you
move the chicken around too much the coating will flake off. That
won't make it inedible but it will not be as pretty. Turn the chicken
over, golden side up.
At this point you have a decision to make. The easiest thing is to
take the chicken out and put it in a 9 X 13 heat proof pan and put it
in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. It will finish cooking
unattended. Drizzle the butter on the chicken when you put it in the
baking dish.
Or...You can also leave it in the sauté pan and continue to
sauté on low until the chicken is done. If you do this you have
to keep an eye on it. Many folks would end up with chicken that is too
dark and chicken that has been flipped with the cornmeal crust coming
off but if you're really good at it, this will work. You choose.
While the chicken is continuing to cook you can make your sauce.
In a medium sauce pan add your shallots and chicken broth. Reduce on
medium high until it's half as much liquid as when you started. You
should have about a cup in the pan. This is called a reduction.
While the liquid is reducing take out a medium sauté pan, melt
the last Tbl of butter and put in the mushrooms. Sauté them on
medium high until their edges start to brown.
Now for the really easy part. When the reduction is ready, take out
your tubs of Boursin and scoop them into the hot liquid. Turn off the
heat and just stir the cheese until it melts. You'll have a beautiful,
smooth sauce. If you have to re-heat it, be careful to do it on very
low heat so you don't separate it or scorch your sauce.
When ready to serve, put the chicken on the plate. Add the mushrooms
and raw tomatoes to the sauce and spoon it over the chicken. Leave
some of the crunchy, cornmeal crust showing and let the sauce drizzle
down the sides.
Serve with simple boiled red potatoes and green beans. Taste it and
you'll think you just flew to France.