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Easy comfort food
Serious Eats posted a recipe for Lemon Chicken with Rice today and it sort of fit with the ingredients I had on hand and the general theory of what I was planning on doing with them, so I gave it a go.
Verdict? Very nom. Definitely comfort food, but I think throwing even more veggies in with the rice would make it a lighter dish. Recipe follows, with a few comments.
Serves 4, took me a little under an hour working from frozen chicken breasts. The sauce is thinner than a gravy - Serious Eats describes it as "soupy," which is unfortunately unappetizing but does give you an idea of what you're aiming for. The recipe makes a LOT of sauce; if you don't want a lot, you could almost certainly halve the recipe. Part of what's nom about this though is serving it hot in a bowl and letting it mix all together, so, *shrugs*.
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts - this recipe could feed six with still generous amounts of sauce, but again, YMMV
2 tablespoons butter - I used Smart Balance and it was just fine
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken broth - I ended up using garlic chicken soup because it was around; it was NOM
1 cup milk or half-and-half - I used skim milk without a problem
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg - I used WAY more than this - I like stronger flavors.
pinch cayenne pepper - I didn't have cayenne, so used sweet paprika, which was yum, but far more than a pinch
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice - I think I probably used at least twice this.
1 cup rice - I used one of those Creative Grains mixes because it was around and just added veggies to it
shelled fresh peas
[I added in cut up asparagus I'd roasted at 350 for 10 min in olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice - because they were leftover from last week and I wanted to make sure they didn't go bad. Mushrooms would be good in this, also broccoli and snap peas.]
Procedure
1. Rinse the rice and combine with 2 cups of the chicken stock in a medium pot. Bring to a boil then simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, adding water if necessary. Add peas, if using, towards the end of cooking. [If you're using a mix, just make the mix and throw the peas in 5 min before you take it off the heat. I threw the asparagus in and tossed after everything was done, but my asparagus was precooked.]
2. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and saute over medium heat until cooked through. Melt the butter in the same saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently scrape up the sauteed bits of chicken so they're not stuck to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the flour and whisk into the butter, breaking up any clumps. Add the chicken stock, whisking. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 10 minutes.
4. Add the milk, nutmeg, cayenne, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
5. Add the final tablespoon of lemon juice to the rice and taste for seasoning. Slice the chicken and serve on the rice smothered in the sauce.
As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
omglawdork says: EAT WITH YOUR FACE.
Verdict? Very nom. Definitely comfort food, but I think throwing even more veggies in with the rice would make it a lighter dish. Recipe follows, with a few comments.
Serves 4, took me a little under an hour working from frozen chicken breasts. The sauce is thinner than a gravy - Serious Eats describes it as "soupy," which is unfortunately unappetizing but does give you an idea of what you're aiming for. The recipe makes a LOT of sauce; if you don't want a lot, you could almost certainly halve the recipe. Part of what's nom about this though is serving it hot in a bowl and letting it mix all together, so, *shrugs*.
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts - this recipe could feed six with still generous amounts of sauce, but again, YMMV
2 tablespoons butter - I used Smart Balance and it was just fine
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken broth - I ended up using garlic chicken soup because it was around; it was NOM
1 cup milk or half-and-half - I used skim milk without a problem
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg - I used WAY more than this - I like stronger flavors.
pinch cayenne pepper - I didn't have cayenne, so used sweet paprika, which was yum, but far more than a pinch
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice - I think I probably used at least twice this.
1 cup rice - I used one of those Creative Grains mixes because it was around and just added veggies to it
shelled fresh peas
[I added in cut up asparagus I'd roasted at 350 for 10 min in olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice - because they were leftover from last week and I wanted to make sure they didn't go bad. Mushrooms would be good in this, also broccoli and snap peas.]
Procedure
1. Rinse the rice and combine with 2 cups of the chicken stock in a medium pot. Bring to a boil then simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, adding water if necessary. Add peas, if using, towards the end of cooking. [If you're using a mix, just make the mix and throw the peas in 5 min before you take it off the heat. I threw the asparagus in and tossed after everything was done, but my asparagus was precooked.]
2. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and saute over medium heat until cooked through. Melt the butter in the same saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently scrape up the sauteed bits of chicken so they're not stuck to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the flour and whisk into the butter, breaking up any clumps. Add the chicken stock, whisking. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 10 minutes.
4. Add the milk, nutmeg, cayenne, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
5. Add the final tablespoon of lemon juice to the rice and taste for seasoning. Slice the chicken and serve on the rice smothered in the sauce.
As
omglawdork says: EAT WITH YOUR FACE.
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(Anonymous) 2009-05-06 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
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I thought about making that last night, but (a) my lemons have all gone to the dark side and I'm out of my little squeezy of lemon juice; and (b) I have very mixed memories of lemon chicken as a child (my mom loved it and made it semi-regularly, but while I didn't dislike it, I never liked it either - flour-dredged, then browned and baked), so I was all "mmmmm, lemon chicken?" But, what you describe sounds lovely, and I will be trying it very soon. :-D
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(Also, if I'd used stock instead of garlic chicken soup, I might've seasoned less, because the flavors wouldn't've had to compete with the garlic, but the garlickiness of the soup was really nice.)
I will say, having tasted the leftovers I brought for lunch, that it tastes just as good cold, and that I am glad I have enough for lunch and dinner. Another recipe win!
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(Argh, work exploded, but we really need to do some planning on the thingy. I'll email you tomorrow.)
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