Contributed Recipe: Risotto, Chicken & Sauce

Contributed by: Lady Brandenburg


From Rachel Ray’s book “Cookin’ Round the Clock”
“Not Just Another Chicken and Rice Dinner”


CHEESY RISI E BISI

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic (we used 2 cloves)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice (we used our regular Jasmine rice)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
½ cup dry white wine
3-4 cups chicken broth (I use 100% fat free)
¼ to 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (we used fresh grated Parmigiano only)
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh-leaf parsley (we had none – stupid Giant was out of it!)
1 cup tiny frozen peas, thawed

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil then garlic and onion and sauté, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes. Add rice and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook another minute or so, then add wine and cook until wine is completely absorbed, 30 seconds. Add about 1 cup of broth and stir. Reduce heat to medium and cook until broth is absorbed, stirring often. Continue adding ½ cup of broth each time liquid becomes completely absorbed, stirring all the while. Use as much broth as is necessary to result in creamy, slightly chewy rice; this should take about 22 minutes. (Note: we had to cover the rice to get it to cook all the way through so it was chewy and not “crunchy.”) Work on chicken while rice continues to cook; recipe follows.

When rice is cooked to desired consistency, remove from heat and stir in cheese, parsley, and peas and stir to combine and to heat peas through.

Yield: 4 servings. (We ate about 2/3 of it, so had about 1/3 left over).



CRISPY CHICKEN CUTLETS WITH BASIL-PARSLEY SAUCE

2 pounds chicken cutlets (we used a 1 and ½ pound package, so we ¾’d most of the rest of this recipe)
Salt and ground pepper
3-4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/3 to ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (as indicated above, we used fresh grated Parmigiano)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (we used a little more)
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (we used Montreal chicken seasoning)
1 clove garlic
1 jar (3 ounces) pine nuts (pignoli) (we couldn’t find these at Giant, so we didn’t use them and didn’t miss them)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
Olive oil, for frying
1 plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped, for garnish (hubby doesn’t like tomatoes, so we didn’t use any)

SAUCE
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
½ cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (Giant didn’t have parsley, so we used fresh thyme)
Juice of ½ lemon (we used a little more, mainly because what are you gonna do with the other half?)
Salt and ground pepper to taste
½ cup extra virgin olive oil (I think we ended up using a little more)

Season cutlets with salt and pepper on both sides. Place flour in a shallow dish (we used a dinner plate) and turn cutlets lightly in flour.

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, red pepper flakes, poultry seasoning, garlic, pine nuts, and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse-process to evenly mix (we just turned the food processor on and left it on). Transfer to a plate. Beat eggs in a separate shallow dish (we used another plate).

Heat a thin layer of oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan, in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Coat cutlets in eggs then breading and place in hot oil. Cook cutlets in a single layer, in 2 batches if necessary, until breading evenly browned and cutlets’ juices run clear, 3 to 4 minutes on each side (for us this took a lot longer – we ended up covering the pan with foil to allow the cutlets to cook more thoroughly – they were still juicy). Remove to a plate and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Make the sauce: Return food processor bowl to base and add basil, parsley and lemon juice. (Again, we didn’t have parsley, but the basil, lemon and oil is still really tasty on its own). Add a little salt and pepper. Turn processor on and stream in oil until a loose paste forms.

Serve chicken cutlets with a generous topping of the sauce. Garnish with tomato.

Yield four servings. (For two of us, we ate two out of the three cutlets which was about 1 and ½ pounds of chicken).

This is SO YUMMY!