Chicken Pomodoro Freschi

[kit]

This is a technique rather than an actual recipe. It assumes that the preparer really likes to cook and knows how to estimate the amounts of the ingredients to suit their taste and/or the taste and size of their family.


CHICKEN POMODORO FRESCHI
(adjust amounts to suit your taste and the size of your family)

Chicken fillet, butterfly cut to make 2 thin fillets
Breading #1 - flour
Breading #2 - egg wash (egg + a little water, beaten)
Breading #3 - consisting of 2 parts Italian bread crumbs, 1 part grated Parmesan cheese, and a few shakes of dried basil
olive oil and butter
onion, chopped
garlic, minced
fresh tomato, chopped (about 1 small tomato per person)
chicken stock
heavy cream

Dredge chicken fillets on both sides in flour, then egg wash, then in well mixed crumbs/cheese/basil (using tongs helps keep hands clean). Press gently to help breading stick. Carefully saute in a large pan in oil/butter on both sides until browned, then remove.

Saute the onion and garlic a couple of minutes, then add the chopped tomato and cook a couple of minutes more. Sprinkle a teaspoon or two of flour on top and mix.

Add some chicken stock and cook a minute or two, then return the chicken to the pan. Add some heavy cream and cook, swirling, until the chicken heats through and the sauce thickens a bit (if the sauce is still too thin, I add either a little more cream or a small amount of buerre manie and simmer and stir until it thickens more).

Serve the fillets with the sauce on top. This goes well with cooked rice or pasta served on the same plate. I make extra sauce for the rice or pasta.

[Clipper]

That sounds delicious Kit. I love to thicken sauces, soups and gravies with buerre manie. I can't remember the source, but I discovered the recipe for it quite some time ago coupled with a chowder recipe. I use it for all my seafood chowders, corn chowder, and in sauces where I use half and half in place of heavy cream. It is handy stuff to have around. I always end up making too much for what I want it for at a particular time, so I have started making about a cup or so and the left over stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week. Kathy uses the surplus to thicken gravy and also uses buerre manie to thicken her alfredo sauce.

I will definitely try your recipe. It sounds great. I imagine that I will serve it on a bed of rice. Possibly a pilaf. We found a great pilaf mix at the local Amish store. Very tasty when cooked in chicken broth.

[kit]

Clipper, the pomodoro sauce is quite delicate and one time I made the mistake of making a pilaf that had too strong a flavor. Since I mix the rice with the sauce, it competed with the subtle tomato/basil combination and I was disappointed. Now, I just use straight basmati white rice. I prefer the rice to pasta.

Buerre manie can be a life saver, can't it? I put the room temperature buerre manie in a piece of wax paper, fold it over and with a ruler I gently slide it up and press it into a log. Then I roll it up in the paper and pop it into the freezer. It keeps much longer that way and when I need some I just nip off a little piece and throw it into the sauce where it melts quickly. I make mine with 1/2 stick of butter (2 oz) and 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour. It's saved more than one wimpy sauce and I'm never without some.

[Clipper]

I haven't used it often enough to have thought to have frozen some. It is so easy to make that I just never thought to make any significant quantity ahead. I will have to make enough to freeze some the next time I make any. The recipe that I was privy to was to mix equal parts softened butter and flour. I usually use about a half cup of each, and roll the left over into a small ball, wrap it in saran wrap and keep it in the butter and cheese keeper in the door of the refrigerator.

I don't know why I haven't thought to freeze some. We make garlic butter for garlic bread and to use in cooking and roll it in parchment logs for wrapping and freezing. Kathy roasts a couple of good sized clumps of garlic in the oven, drizzled with a little olive oil while roasting, mixes that with a stick or two of butter, a little salt and a dash of garlic powder, and blends it in the food processor. She then chills it until the right consistency for rolling, and rolls it for the freezer. It's great to pop a quarter sized coin or two of it into a batch of saute'd spinach or other greens, or to melt into a bowl of steamed or lightly saute'd brocolli florets. The roasting makes the garlic very mellow and sweet. She usually makes at least a pound of it at a time because it is messy to clean the food processor afterward.

We are serious real butter fans. She rarely uses margarine even in her baking. I ate all the Blue Bonnet that I want to eat for a lifetime when I was a kid. If I want shortening on my toast I will break out the Crisco. I am sure you remember Spry canned shortening from when we were kids. My grandparents on my mom's side always used real butter. My grandfather called margarine whipped Spry. Always said it was for cooking, not eating on bread.

[kit]

Great idea about preparing the garlic butter in advance and freezing it. Sounds delicious and it's similar to kiev butter. I suppose you can add any ingredients that suit your taste and have it ready when you need it.

I made a mistake last week when I bought a pound of Land-O'-Lakes butter. I picked up 'light' butter instead of real butter. I opened and used some tonight for dinner and was surprised when it didn't act or taste like what I was used to. Then I saw my mistake. I'll never make that mistake again. Being on a salt-restricted diet, I sometimes use unsalted butter which is great for cooking, but I have to splurge once in a while and like you, I want the real thing.

[Clipper]

I assume that Kiev butter is used in the preparation of chicken Kiev. I have eaten chicken kiev at the O' Club at Griffiss, but Kathy has never prepared it at home. One of the advantages of being a member of the Officer's Club was the privilege of dining there. Their Sunday brunch always included chef carved prime rib, and an excellent lobster Newburg. They had several excellent chefs over the years. I maintained membership in the Officer's club primarily because I traveled quite a bit on my job, and when staying in the visiting officer's quarters at other bases, the O Club was always located near the quarters, making it a convenient place for breakfast and dinner.

[kit]

Yes, Kiev butter is used in making Chicken Kiev, and it's too time-consuming for me, so I don't include it in my recipe file. It's sort of like making Beef Wellington... delicious, but a real bear to make, especially if you make the puff pastry yourself. Chicken Kiev isn't quite so bad, but it's best to get it in a restaurant rather than making it yourself.

The reason I mentioned Kiev Butter is because it's one of a number of compound butters that are either refrigerated or frozen and used when needed. Essentially it's butter with various herbs and/or spices that impart a specific flavor to a particular dish. Definitely a good idea, and I really like to looks of Kathy's garlic combination and will definitely try it. And as you might imagine from having used it yourself, buerre manie is a staple in my house and there's always some in my freezer. I like making various sauces and sometimes go overboard and need a little more thickening at the end. Buerre manie comes to the rescue and it hasn't let me down yet.

Here's an interesting side-story that you should get a kick out of, Clip. My brother Paul is a retired Navy pilot. He was the Captain and had his own P-3 Turbo-jet. One boring Sunday, Paul was looking for something to do and he said to his flight crew, "How about we all get together and go to dinner?" They were bored also, and said 'yes.' They thought they were going to the O'club, but Paul told them to wear their flight suits and meet at the plane. Paul filed a bogus flight plan, saying they were going on a practice mission. They met and took off and flew to the Azores off the coast of Portugal and had dinner at a posh restaurant. Afterward, they returned with several cases of Matteus wine to enjoy on future boring Sundays. True story. And I thought is was a big deal to drive to Old Forge for a cup of coffee. ;o) By the way...Paul and wife Sherry used to live in Kennesau GA about 5 minutes away from Uncle Jim.

[Clipper]

I love the story about your brother's trip to the Azores. I was privileged to be the Commander's driver when I first went in the Navy. I was stationed in Key West Fla at the advanced undersea weapons school while I was waiting for my gunners mate school to have an opening. I always maintained good military bearing and kept my uniforms squared away, so I was selected to drive his staff car. I had it made. I used to get up at 6 am, chamois the dew off the car, pick him up at 7am to be at the office at 7:30. I was then off and hung around the barracks until 11am. At 11 I took him to the O Club for lunch and back to the office a 1 pm. If his wife was picking him up after work, I was done for the day. If not I hung around until 4 pm and took him home or back to the club.

He was also a Navy pilot, and although he was not in a flying job, he had to maintain his flying hours. Twice he took me with him in a P3 Orion to Cuba. He would buy all his cigars and booze there at the reduced rate as an overseas exchange facility. I did all my Christmas shopping there and could buy cigarettes there for $3 a carton. It was the life of Riley. After he transferred, I worked for two E-9's that had me type changes to classified training manuals. They were both ready for retirement and would either golf or fish almost every afternoon. They would take off and tell me to sweep and swab the office floors, dump the trash cans and take the rest of the day off.

I thought I was killed when that gig ended, and I went to school and eventually out into the fleet, first on a destroyer, and finally on boats. I was just a little bit spoiled, haha.

[Clipper]

Here's something I found on line today. Looks like it would be something you would be interested in Kit. I might try freezing some dill in melted insalted butter to put on my salmon filets. I use lemon, dill, and butter when I prepare a salmon filet or steak. I imagine Kathy may have some ideas as to what she would like to freeze in olive oil for HER favorite recipes. I imagine she will freeze some basil and oregano for her Italian dishes and sauces to start.

I would think it would be difficult to know how much to use in any given recipe. I wonder if the herbs hold up or if they lose flavor over a period of time? I guess we will have to try it to find out huh? lol

[kit]

Clipper,

I've tried freezing fresh herbs without much success. Dried herbs, however, in a compound butter seem to freeze well. And in general, much less dried herbs are necessary than fresh herbs. My only problem (being considerably older than I used to be and getting quite forgetful) is that I'll make a buerre manie or a compound butter and pop it into the freezer without labeling it first. With several different combinations in my freezer, it becomes a crap-shoot determining which 'log' to use for a particular dish. Must be CRS.

Good idea about the dill butter, but it's best if you don't melt the butter first or the milk solids may separate which will change the character of the butter. Just let it come to room temperature and work the dill in with a fork. If you don't mind the substitution, you can also mix in some citric acid and a little lemon extract and you'll have the whole flavoring when you make your salmon. (This sounds delicious, by the way)

In making compound butters using dried herbs I haven't found that they lose their flavor if kept frozen until use. They're a real time-saver. One of my favorites is Tarragon Butter to go with freshly cooked vegetables (whatever combination floats my boat at the time). The butter is 1/2 stick of butter + 1-1/2 tsp dried tarragon + salt-n-pepper. After cooking (or preferably steaming) the vegetables, saute them with a hunk of this compound butter. Delicious.

[Deleted]

Clipper I make my salmon steaks the same way with lemon and dill. I buy the frozen prepared Chicken Kiev. It is delicious.

I can't believe its not butter is what I used to use but now I use the olive oil butter blend.

[Clipper]

You are probably correct about melting the butter Kit. That is what the website suggested. I could not get the link to copy for some reason, probably some copyright thing. The entire point of the article was to freeze small amounts of fresh herbs in ice cube trays. I hadn't given any thought to the fact that the milk solids would separate out when the butter was melted. They suggested finely chopping a tablespoon of your favorite fresh herb and packing it into a compartment in an ice cube tray and then filling with olive oil or melted unsalted butter.

Other than dill, parsley, cilantro, and an occasional bunch of basil, we don't use many fresh herbs. I try to buy pretty much what we need, as we need it for a particular dish. Until now, I simply place any left over herb between the folds of a dampened paper towel and freeze them in a ziploc bag. We have never had occasion to keep them for very long, so I don't know how they would keep long term.

I guess in some states you can probably now legally SMOKE any left over herb in a pipe. Do ya still smoke your pipe Kit? hahaha. I loved the smell of the blend you smoked at the time we last met at Mary and Dan's house. I used to like Captain Black when I smoked, although smoking a pipe was not a regular thing for me. I was a cigarette smoker.

[kit]

I learned about not melting the butter when reading an article about making Ghee. Ghee is butter that's melted to remove the milk solids, then cooked slowly to draw out and 'brown' some other little bits. All that is skimmed off or otherwise removed and what's left is Ghee. It has a sort of nutty flavor and it doesn't need refrigeration. Pour it into a bowl or ramekin where it partially solidifies and you can leave it on your counter for months. It doesn't spoil and has a much higher smoking temperature than butter. But that's neither here nor there. The idea was that if the milk solids separate from the butter, the taste changes as well as the chemical properties. Great if you're making Ghee, but not so good when you're making a compound butter.

I do much the same as you... buy fresh herbs in season and skip the whole hassle of freezing them. I do freeze one thing, though. I eat a fair amount of chicken and buy either a half or whole breast. Then I butcher-out the fillets and tenders and freeze the rest. When I have a whole bunch of skin and bones, I make a big pot of stock, filter and freeze it.

The neat part is that I measure the stock into plastic Solo cups and freeze them on a cookie sheet in sizes that I often use. Quarter or half cups for making sauces and full cups for making soups. When they're frozen, I dip the cups into warm water and the frozen 'stocksicle' just drops out. I put them into freezer bags and re-freeze for when I need them. Wash and dry the cups and they're ready for the next batch. This is a money-saver, too. It costs much less per pound to buy a whole chicken breast than it does to buy skinned and boned fillets, and you use the trimmings to tailor make a stock to your own taste or medical requirements and save the expense of buying pre-made stock. I do the same with my spaghetti sauce. Freeze a bunch of containers of measured sauce and take one out of the freezer a few hours before making supper. To me it's a win-win. But then, I love working in the kitchen and fully understand that some people don't give a hoot about the kitchen and would rather be sitting on the couch eating pizza or grunchburgers, drinking beer and watching the game. LOL

I used to smoke a blend of pipe tobacco that I mixed myself. It was 3 cans of Borkum Riff and one can of Captain Black. I'd put them all into a paper bag (when you had your choice of paper or plastic) and mix them by hand, then put them back into the cans. The Borkum Riff was very mild, easy to pack, and smooth smoking, and the Captain Black added just a little aromatics. The blend was comfortable to smoke and didn't smell like I was smoking a vanilla milkshake. But after losing a few leather pouches and sitting a few pipes and breaking the stems, I switched back to cigarettes which were more convenient in the long run. However, I don't cook or eat either one, so my smoking shouldn't appear on a recipe thread, should it? ;o)

[Clipper]

I buy chicken breasts still on the bone, and cook them that way, removing the bone after cooking. Either baking in the oven, or stewing on stove top, I remove the meat after cooking because cooking on the bone makes a much more flavorful breast filet for chicken salad or any other recipe one might choose. I find the breast filets or whole boneless breasts tend to cook up quite dry and flavorless unless marinated or brined first. I sometimes brine chicken overnight in a salt and sugar brine, much like what I use to brine pork chops. 4 tbsp kosher salt, 4 tbsp light brown sugar or white granulated sugar, 4 cups of water. Heat the brine until sugar and salt are dissolved. Cool the brine, put the chops or chicken in a ziploc bag or bowl, pour the brine over the meat to cover, place in the refrigerator over night, or for at least a couple of hours. Dry the meat thoroughly with paper towels before cooking. Brining makes the meat tender and keeps it juicy. For chicken to be cooked over charcoal, I substitute 1 cup of cider vinegar for one of the cups of water and marinate for at least 8 hrs if not more. (We have an ice maker so I cool the brine by placing the sauce pan of brine in the sink and filling the sink with cold water until the water is half way up the side of the pan, and then I dump a few scoops of ice in the water to cool it quickly.)If intending to cook the chicken on an outdoor grill, I often add raw onion sliced and separated into rings, a clove of garlic, lightly crushed with the flat side of a knife, a little bit of dried oregano, and a sprig of rosemary or a little bit of dried rosemary.

You are probably better versed than I am as to why soaking in a salt brine makes a meat retain it's juices. I would not recommend the brining if you are sodium conscious. The meat never tastes overly salty, but I am sure it retains some of the salt.

[Deleted]

Kit I tried you recepe but changed it a little. I used chicken tenders instead of breasts( cheaper).

Instead of a cream sauce which is heavy I chopped some plum tomatoes and motzerella cheese along with fresh basil. I mixed them together and let marinate. I used that mixture to throw over the chicken tenders. Was great.