Friday night's dinner: Howie Hart's Chicken Scallopini

You know a recipe or simply a method of preparation is good when you go back to it time and again. That's the way with tonight's dinner. I got this recipe a couple years back on the old FLDG, and I've been making it ever since.

I've made a couple minor modifications. Since I only cook for two, I use only one piece of chicken, but make the entire recipe otherwise (we love the sauce over the noodles). I also use chicken broth or stock in place of using the bouillon.

It's wonderful, and I wanted to bring it to the forefront for those who didn't see it the first time.

http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/i ... mid=535169

Thanks again Howie.

Glad you liked it Linda. Simple and has pretty much become a staple in the family over the years. I've gotten away from boullion also. My future daughter-in-law makes it about once a month. Of course, I have to supply her with a bottle of my home made wine.

I used a 2005 Monarchia Cellars Pinot Grigio from Hungary. This was delicious, and I thought, a great match. It was fruity-lemony with great mouth watering acidity. A great buy at $10.99.

I know you make most of your own wines (and I've heard they're great), so what do you use in this dish?

Dry Vidal works nice for making the dish, and I usually have a good supply of this around. Sometimes I serve a slightly off-dry Vidal or un-oaked Chardonnay with the meal, but I can see Pinot Grigio working, or even a Soave.

Over time, one gains experience and also over time I've picked up some good info from the FLDGers here. Jenise posted a rant a while ago about giving people recipes, but they take shortcuts and wonder why things don't taste the same. I had this experience recently when my future D-I-L invite me over for Chicken Scallopini. This caused me to revisit the original recipe so I could edit it and emphasize certain things I've learned or weren't properly conveyed in the original recipe. I'm giving the D-I-L a hard copy, so here it is:

CHICKEN SCALOPINE

4-8 tablespoons butter, divided (butter is important – do not substitute margarine)
12 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat to about 1/2 inch
2-3 bunches of thin sliced green onions
1 cup chicken stock (home made, prepared or reconstituted stock is much better than bouillon cubes)
1/2 bottle dry white wine
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in large non-stick frypan. Sauté mushrooms until tender and any liquid has evaporated for pan; set aside.
2. Turn up heat on burner and melt 2 more tablespoons butter in same frypan. Depending on the heat of the burner, a bit of olive oil can be added to prevent the butter from burning (a hotter frying pan helps with the browning). Cook chicken breasts on both sides until golden brown (this browning is important, as it adds to the color and flavor of the sauce); remove from pan; set aside. Repeat this as necessary, depending on the size of the pan and number of chicken breasts.
3. Add sliced green onions to pan and sauté until tender.
4. Add wine to pan, bring to boil, stirring to de-glaze the pan and dissolve the golden brown crusties that formed when cooking the chicken.
5. Add chicken stock and stir-cook until mixture is reduced by half. Add cream to pan. Cook and stir until slightly thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Return mushrooms and chicken to sauce in pan. Reheat to serving temperature.

Serve over pasta (angel hair, spaghetti or linguini).
Accompany with the same or similar wine used to cook with.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

NOTE: For reduced fat version, use non-fat cooking spray to cook the onions and chicken, but use 1 Tbsp. butter for the mushrooms. Also substitute 1 can cream of mushroom soup for whipping cream.

Have you tried the lower calorie version and how does it compare?

Linda, I copied this recipe way back when too, and don't seem to think of it, but your report makes me want to cook it. I will try to do the lower calorie version...maybe next week.

Have you tried the lower calorie version and how does it compare?

Years ago, when my wife was doing WeightWatchers, I developed the low-fat version. It's a decent substitute, but not quite as tasty. Also, for reduced carbs you could use Dreamfields pasta, as recommended by Bob Henrick a while ago. Of course fat always makes things taste better.

fat always makes things taste better


Given the above Howie, I should taste very very good!