Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Chicken with Mushrooms by Martha Stewart

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  I don't, which is a good thing, or I'd have completely failed a likely resolution of being a better blogger this year.  Wow, nine months of the year have flown by. Work has been keeping me really busy and I find myself wondering when I'll find time to cook much less write about my cooking.  I've been focusing on finding recipes that I consider weeknight dinners in that they can be made in 30 minutes or less and recipes that I can make in my instant pot which is growing on me.  Today's recipe, Martha Stewarts' Chicken with Mushrooms came up in my Facebook feed as a suggestion and the total time of 25 minutes and a pretty picture was enough to get me to print the recipe out.  



The recipe was perfect paleo, except for the flour.  I'd bought a bag of Otto's Cassava flour at conference this year and thought this was the perfect opportunity to open it up and test it out as well.  



I was really happy to see how much the texture of this alternative flour was like wheat flour. 




 While coating the chicken, I heated my Scanpan with butter so it would be ready to go.  I cooked the chicken in two batches. 


I cooked the chicken per the recipe instructions.  I do want to note that this flour had an issue that I've identified in cooking with other alternative flours.  It seems to burn more easily than wheat flour.  I think you can see the discoloration of the burnt flour in the butter in the pan.  I wiped out the pan before moving on to the next step.  


Once all the chicken was cooked, I got started on the mushrooms.  It seems like a lot of mushrooms until they've cooked a bit.  



I added the wine and some of my homemade chicken broth and let it reduce a bit.



Once the liquid had reduced, I added the chicken back to the pan and garnished with parsley.  


Here's my plate with a bit of cauliflower rice.  



Accessibility & Cost of Ingredients:   I was bound and determined to only make one grocery store stop the night I decided to cook this and that stop was at Trader Joe's.  They had some chicken that looked more like cutlets, but the tenderloins I got were organic and the cutlets were not.   I try to get the best quality chicken I can afford or is available.  You should be able to find all the ingredients you need at your big box grocery store except for the Cassava flour.  I've honestly not sought this out in a store but I know you can buy it online.  Before I thought of my unopened bag of Otto's Cassava flour, I considered using a very light dusting of Arrowroot.  

While at Trader Joe's, I also picked up a few bags of their pre-riced fresh cauliflower.  If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, I highly recommend you pick up a bag or 5 as it eliminates the clean up of riced cauliflower.  Win!

Clean Up:  Clean up was a snap.  Everything except my Scanpan went in the dishwasher.  

Preparation & Cooking Time:  This is where I was disappointed.  Alas, it took me far longer than 25 minutes to prepare and cook this recipe.  From start to finish, it took me 49 minutes and 52 seconds.   I don't think I was prepping or cooking slowly and I followed the recipe recommended cooking times.   

The Paleo Review:  Thumbs Up!  Despite the cooking time not working out, I really enjoyed this chicken.  It had a light and earth flavor that only got better after a night in the refrigerator.  Is the flour necessary?  Probably not.  I thought I should use something as I thought it would contribute to thickening the sauce, but it really doesn't.  The next time I make this dish, I'll just skip it.  If the result isn't as tasty, I'll update the post.