Chicken with a Crimini Mushroom and Sage Sauce; Mashed Potatoes

I was looking for a new idea for chicken when Ally recommended this recipe that she developed based on a recipe in Katie's blog. I decided to take things that I liked from both recipes and ended up with one of the best chicken dishes I've made in a while. I'll definitely make this one again!

Here is my variation -

Ingredients

Chicken:

• 4 thinly sliced, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• Salt and pepper

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup extra-dry vermouth
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
• 1 tsp flour mixed with 1/4 cup water

Directions

Chicken:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan
• Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in the cornstarch. Shake off any excess and add to the hot pan.
• Cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Remove chicken from the pan and keep warm on a covered plate; you could also put them in the oven on warm but I already had something cooking in the oven - our next house WILL have double ovens :) Do not discard all of the juices in the pan.

Sauce:

• Heat olive oil in the same pan where chicken was cooked
• Add the shallots and mushrooms; saute for a minute or two
• Add garlic, saute
• Add the vermouth and sage. While adding all of these ingredients, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the bits on the bottom of the pan.
• Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. At this point I put the chicken back into the pan for about 4 minutes to absorb the flavors of the sauce and to make sure it was cooked through. I then put it back into the covered dish and continued to cook the sauce.
• As the sauce reduces, it will thicken a bit. I added just a touch of the flour-water mixture to help it along.

This sauce was so flavorful! I loved it and it was amazing poured over mashed potatoes. I can't wait to make this one for Jon, but with rice, of course...

My mashed potatoes are pretty basic, but I'll share anyway. I boiled 2 pounds of red potatoes. Once drained, I added 1 tbsp butter, about 1 tbsp of salt, and 1/2 cup of light cream (maybe more, I don't measure). I used a handheld electric mixer and whipped them to a creamy but fluffy consistency. Near the end I added a small handful of dried parsley for color.

For a veggie I made roasted asparagus. I tossed asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper, and just a touch of garlic powder and roasted them on 375 for about 10 minutes.

I took some leftovers to my dad today for lunch - I can't wait to hear what he thinks of this meal. Of course I kept some for myself as well! Is it lunch time yet?