how to improve anything

You know on Sunday it was 83 degrees out. And I have this killer potato salad recipe that the unseasonably warm weather made me feel like I could get away with posting. Even though you and I both know that potato salad season is pretty much officially over. But today? Today it is grey and chilly and I just spent a few delicious hours in the kitchen making stock and pumpkin muffins and a quick coconut curry sauce for tomorrow’s dinner. Today is a day for real food. Not appetizers or cookout side dishes. And it just frankly does not feel like potato salad weather. It feels like we need something savory and wholesome and I’ve got just the thing.



This recipe is continued proof of the well-tested fact that you can improve any food in the whole world by wrapping it in prosciutto. Heck, I bet you could even make a few undesirable people in your life more appealing by wrapping them in a few slices! Boneless skinless chicken breasts are like the background music of weeknight dinners. Somehow simultaneously boring and annoying. So easy to prepare that they are hard to ignore, but often so quick to dry out that often fall far short of satisfying. However, when carefully wrapped in salty, crisped prosciutto and smothered in a savory mushroom sauce, they turn from “oh chicken?” into “oh SNAP!” in no time. This was a Sunday supper many weeks back; but if you have the time it’s relatively quick enough work for a weeknight meal.



PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED CHICKEN with 
SHERRIED MUSHROOM PAN GRAVY

For the chicken breasts: 

3-4 chicken breasts
6 to 8 slices of thinly sliced prosciutto
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
3 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. butter

For the pan gravy: 

1 shallot, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. button mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
1-2 tbs. butter
¾ cup cream sherry*
Chicken stock (if needed)
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
Heavy cream or half and half (optional)
Salt and pepper

*for my feelings about sherry check this post

Generously salt and pepper each side of your chicken breasts; then dust both sides with parmesan cheese. Wrap one or two slices of prosciutto around the middle of each breast so that it overlaps to form a nice ‘belt’. Mmmm prosciutto belts.



In a large skillet or braising pan, heat butter and oil over medium to medium-high heat until butter is slightly foamy but still pale yellow and pan is nice and hot. Place chicken, seal side down in pan and let cook approximately 4 minutes per side, until nicely browned and prosciutto has crisped a bit. Pull chicken from pan and set aside; it will complete cooking through in the mushroom sauce in a few moments.



Reduce heat to medium and add another small drizzle of oil to pan, plus 1-2 tbs. butter. Sauté shallots until the translucent and fragrant (about 1-2 minutes) add garlic and mushrooms, generously salt and pepper; and stir together well to completely coat in butter and oil. Let mushrooms cook about 5-6 minutes, stirring every so often, until they have purged some liquid, browned and shrunk down a bit. Turn heat to high and pour sherry in, using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan as the sherry reduces. Add Dijon and a few splashes of chicken stock and maybe another teaspoon of butter for good measure. Let reduce and thicken for about 3-4 minutes, then turn heat down to medium. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary. If it still tastes boozy from the sherry, turn the heat back up and let reduce a little more, if you feel there is not enough liquid, splash in a bit more stock. Return chicken breasts to pan for an additional few minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into each breast reads 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan and plate, taste mushroom sauce, season if necessary and if you choose, swirl in just a touch of half and half or cream to thicken the sauce. Pour sauce and mushrooms over chicken. Serve immediately.

Serve with thick slices of olive oil rubbed grilled foccacia bread and a green salad or vegetable dish.