Missing Home...

In the next week and a half I have a lot of major things going on. My birthday, the 8th anniversary of my best friends death and the 3rd anniversary of the car accident that pretty much ruined my life. Don't get me wrong, I don't want sympathy and my accident could have been MUCH worse, but it still makes me want to be home. Around my friends and family... and Agatinas! It's Super good food and the ENTIRE MENU (from what I know) can be made gluten free! They even have a dessert there that is one of the best things I've ever eaten!

So I sat on the couch and started the "what do you

want for dinner?" discussion with my boyfriend (think Jungle Book vultures). Then I decided I wanted Chicken French! I guess this is a Rochester thing. WOO GO R-O-C!!! It's an Italian dish, don't let the name fool you. No one really knows why it's called Chicken French but I have a theory! Because it requires a good amount of butter! Julia Child taught me French food is buttery food.

So I went to the liquor store, got some wine and came home and starting cooking! I think next time I'll use a little less lemon juice.

"Chicken French"

with Brown Rice and Green Beans

What you need:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (pounded thin)

1/3 cup Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

3-4 cloves of Garlic (minced)

2 Tbsp Chicken Broth/Stock

1/4 cup Butter (1/2 stick)

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Dry Sherry Wine

1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (grated Bel Gioso is what I always get)

1 Tbsp Sugar

2 Eggs

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil (to coat the pan)

Start off by whisking the Egg, Sugar and Parmesan Cheese together. Heat Salt and Pepper the breasts and press both sides into the Flour, then Egg, then Flour again. Put them in the large pan with heated Olive Oil on medium and cook for about 5 minutes, flip and do the same thing until fully cooked. Set aside.

In the same pan melt 1/4 Butter and add the garlic. Next add the Wine, Chicken Stock and Lemon Juice. Make sure you scrape up all the crunchy bits from cooking the chicken! Let it simmer for a few minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the Chicken back to the sauce and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Top it with sauce.

A lot of people serve Chicken French over pasta or with rice covered in the sauce. I usually do pasta but rice is cheaper ;) and my boyfriend is sick of pasta. He's crazy, I could live off of it! Well, onto dessert!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Escarole

"What is this?" you ask...

This is YUM!

Yup, the picture might not make it look like anything all that special because it was taken in my poorly lit dining room at about 9:30pm on my blackberry but believe me it's delicious! It's actually my boyfriends favorite meal (besides my alfredo sauce which I will NEVER share the recipe of). He even likes the escarole. That is amazing because he hates vegetables! ALL vegetables. Except potatoes, but doesn't everyone like potatoes? So let's get on with the recipe.

Sauteed Escarole with Garlic

1 Bunch of Escarole (Cleaned SUPER well and torn a bit)

1/8 (ish) cup of EVOO

6-7 cloves of Chopped Garlic

Salt and Pepper

a splash of Chicken Stock

What to do:

CLEAN YOUR ESCAROLE!! Seriously. No one wants to chomp on dirt. It's not tasty. So when it's clean and torn into smaller pieces, not tiny cuz it shrivels, then put it into a GIANT pot and bring it to a boil, about 5 minutes.

While the escarole is doing its thing put a good amount of olive oil in a big pan and sautee the garlic.

Has it been about 5 minutes yet? I say yes. Drain your escarole and run it under cold water until its not hot anymore then start sauteeing it in the garlic and oil. I let it cook about 15-20 minutes. When there's about 5 minutes left I salt and pepper it and add a splash of chicken stock (or wine, if I have that) and keep mixing it around till it's done.

After all that I put it in the oven or microwave to keep it warm. I don't have enough pans to make all the components at the same time, I'm broke.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Bread Crumbs (I use Schar)

Parmesan BelGioso (Splurge and buy the good stuff, you don't need much)

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

Italian Seasoning

What to do:

Pound the Chicken so it's nice and thin, a half inch or so thick.

Mix the Bread Crumbs with Garlic Powder and Italian Seasoning.

Coat the bottom of a pan with EVOO and let it heat up (I set the heat on about 3 1/2-4 on my stove. So like a low medium).

Massage (do it with love :)) some olive oil into the chicken breasts on one side then season with Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Italian Seasoning.

Sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese over it then sprinkle the Bread Crumbs on top. Add a little more Parmesan Cheese and press it firmly into the chicken.

Place it seasoned side down in the hot oil and repeat the seasoning on the other side.

Flip it carefully to the other side and finish cooking.

After it's done I sprinkle a little more cheese on top :)

It's SOOOOO delicious. And even though some of the ingredients are more pricey you only need a few tablespoons. I promise it's delicious and if you serve it to guests they will have NO IDEA it's gluten free.

I'd suggest practicing the escarole before serving it to guests, it took me a while to get it right.

I'd also like to give a should out to www.affordableglutenfree.blogspot.com for encouraging me to get back into this!

Happy Gluten Free Cooking!!!

XOXO