CHICKEN AMARETTO

Today was one of those days that I had no idea what I would cook for dinner until I got home and looked in my fridge. After work, I’d run a few errands. Well to be truthful, I went shoe shopping. By the time I left the stores, I wasn’t in the mood to stop at the grocery store. I usually make several trips a week because I like to buy my food fresh, so I was sure there was something in the house I could make a meal from.

I love wine in my food, and many of my recipes require it, but I wanted to do something different – something a little on the sweet side. I swapped out the wine for Amaretto, and came up with this. Anything with mushrooms and shallots can’t be bad. Plus, it took less than an hour to prepare from start to finish.

Amaretto Chicken

 

2 Pounds chicken cutlets, sliced thin

3 Shallots, sliced

½ Pound of sliced mushrooms

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Cup flour

Dash of salt and pepper

1 Teaspoon dried parsley

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

3 Tablespoons olive oil

½ cup Amaretto liquor

3 Cups chicken broth

1 Tablespoon dried tarragon or 2 tablespoons of fresh

1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

Prepare two separate shallow dredging bowls. In the first, whisk together the egg and milk. In the second, mix the flour, parsley, salt and pepper.

In a large heated skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and add the olive oil.

Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, then the egg, and then the flour again. Add the dredged chicken into the skillet and brown, about 5 – 7 minutes per side.

Transfer to an oven safe dish and place in preheated oven (325 degrees) while the shallots and mushrooms sauté. Add the mushrooms and shallots to the skillet and sauté in the same butter/oil used to brown the chicken. Stir often, lifting any bits from the bottom of the skillet. Sauté until tender, about 7 – 10 minutes.

Add the Amaretto. When it comes to a boil, add 2 cups of the chicken broth. Bring the sauce to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Add the tarragon. Season with a couple of dashes of pepper.

Make a slurry from the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the remaining chicken broth. Whisk it into the Amaretto sauce and bring to a high simmer. If the sauce is too thick, add the remaining broth. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Add the last tablespoon of butter and whisk.

Remove the chicken from the oven and add it to the skillet with the sauce.

Yummy Marinated and Grilled Spare Ribs, Uncle Scotty Style

Photo by Alexa Speyer

Let me tell you about Uncle Scotty. Uncle Scotty is my brother-in-law. The very same one who each year lovingly prepares my Thanksgiving turkey, and then poses for the “kiss the turkey” picture. One day recently, he was scrolling through my blog and was insulted to find that I had taken down the recipe I had posted a few years back for Uncle Scotty Spare Ribs. “No, I didn’t,” I insisted. “You are looking at the wrong blog.” Previously, I had written my posts on a livejournal domain. I switched over a few years ago and slowly, I’ve been reposting those recipes in addition to many others. So far, I’d not reposted the spare rib recipe onto the wordpress blog.

So, this past weekend I purposely made the ribs in order to take some photos and share this tasty recipe with you.

Originally, when I asked Scott what was in the marinade, he only said, “duck sauce, bourbon, and soy sauce.” He gave me no amounts, or any indication that he added seasonings. So, I played with the amounts and the recipe and this is what I came up with.

Uncle Scotty Spare Ribs

 Approximately 4 pounds of country style pork spare ribs

3 cups duck sauce

1 cup bourbon

½ cup soy sauce

2 cloves crushed garlic

1Tablespoon fresh ginger or 1teaspoon ground ginger

¼ brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

Whisk all the ingredients together until well blended. Marinate spare ribs overnight or for at least 5 hours. Grill.