Mushroom Chicken

Lately I have been obsessed with mushrooms, which is funny because I used to hate them. See... I may be opinionated, but my opinions can change. I'm open minded like that.

Anywho... one night a few weeks ago I wanted to make dinner without going to the store, so I used what I had on hand and came up with my family's new favorite recipe: Mushroom Chicken

Now, if you love recipes and follow them to a tee, you're not going to like to cook my food. I rarely measure anything and so you'll have to bear with my "some" and "a swig" descriptions. But I promise you really can't mess this up, so just try it.

What you'll need:
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary {I use fresh and chop up at least a heaping tablespoonful}
Poultry Seasoning
Italian Seasoning
Cooking Sherry or any Dry White Wine

Alright, stop right there for a minute. You should pretty much have these ingredients in your pantry at all times. This is how I season all my chicken for any meal. Put the chicken in a Pyrex baking dish, season well with everything listed and pour the wine on top. You can add lemon, potatoes, asparagus, balsamic vinegar... any number of things, but I promise delicious, flavorful chicken every time!

Okay, back to what you'll need:
2-3 Large Russet Potatoes
Butter
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Garlic Salt
Heavy Cream or Cream Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Boil the potatoes until they're soft, drain, add a bunch of all the ingredients I just mentioned. Mash. Taste it. Probably add more Lawry's. Done.

Wait, I got side-tracked. There's still more stuff you'll need:
Mushrooms {I use Baby Bella and I buy them in the bag that is already cleaned and cut... I hate cleaning mushrooms}
Onion
Sugar
More Sherry
Heavy Cream
Parmesan Cheese

Okay, so here's how to do it so that it is all ready at the same time:

Peel and cut the potatoes into large slices, about an inch thick. Put them in a pot of salted water and set them on the stove over high heat to boil.

Season the chicken as I described and put it in the oven at 350 degrees.

Set a timer for 20 minutes.

Heat some oil in a sauté pan and add slices of onion, the mushrooms, and about a tablespoon of sugar {keep a little but of the onions and mushrooms aside for later}. Let this cook, stirring every once in a while. Let it all caramelize and get dark and kind of burned looking.

When the timer goes off, take the chicken out of the oven and spoon the onions and mushrooms over the chicken. Don't pour. I use tongs. You want any juices and little burned pieces to stay in the pan for the sauce.

Put the chicken back in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Add some finely chopped onions and mushrooms to the pan that you just took the other onions and mushrooms out of. About a half a cup or so of each.

When they have cooked a bit add some of the sherry. I don't know... maybe a half a cup to a cup. Let that reduce. Add the heavy cream. I keep adding it until it seems like I have enough sauce for everyone. Then sometimes I add some more wine... then maybe some more cream... just keep going until it seems like it's enough and a good, thick consistency.

You should probably check on your potatoes right about now. They should be done. Prepare them like I told you to above.

I like to make a simple salad to go along with it.

Did your timer go off??? It probably should be beeping right about now. So pull the chicken out of the oven.

To serve, put a big pile of mashed potatoes in the center of your plate. Place a chicken breast leaning on the potatoes. Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan, then pour some of the sauce over the whole thing. Add a small helping of salad on the side. Voila!

Beautiful. Easy. So yummy.

{Sorry about the iPhone pictures... Iwasn't really planning to blog about this, but I just had to share.}