What’s cookin’?

I saw something the other day that made me giggle. “Welcome to adulthood, where you will have to decide every night what to make for supper.”  I used to never think twice about what was for supper. Mom always had something good to eat on the table, every night. Of course, this responsibility seems to fall on just one person of a certain generational age, and I am my mother’s daughter. Fortunately times have changed. All my boys are good cooks and can help decide and make what’s for supper. This one pan creamy garlic chicken is so easy make and fancy enough to impress. Serve it with some of Joelle’s bread on the side. She makes baking bread look so easy using her Dutch oven. She’s looking to sell more loaves of bread this summer with her cut flower business.

It isn’t winter season without a couple of bowls of fish pickling. Eric keeps me supplied with his extra northerns. I don’t know which I enjoy eating more, pickled fish or pickled vegetables? It is quite a process but worth the effort.

One pan creamy garlic chicken

2 large chicken breasts (about 24 ounces)

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon each salt, garlic powder, onion powder

1/2 teaspoon each pepper, paprika

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

10 garlic cloves (smash 5 cloves with blunt edge of the back of a knife and peel; peel remaining whole cloves)

1 shallot, chopped

1 ½ cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup heavy cream (or evaporated milk mixed with 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon

1 teaspoon each dried parsley, dried basil

1/2 teaspoon each dried oregano, dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Slice chicken breasts in half through the equator to create 4 fillets. Cover with plastic wrap and pound to an even thickness (use a meat mallet or side of a can) Pat dry. Whisk flour and all seasonings together in a shallow dish. Dredge each cutlet in mixture; shake off any excess then transfer to a dry surface. Melt butter in oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add chicken and sear each side for 4-5 minutes (depending upon thickness) until golden and cooked to 160 degrees. If the drippings are starting to burn, turn down the heat. Transfer chicken to a plate; don’t wipe out the skillet. Reduce heat to medium. Add a drizzle of oil if needed to chicken drippings. Add chopped shallot and smashed and whole garlic cloves. Sauté while scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan until shallots are softened and garlic is caramelized, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in heavy cream. Mix chicken broth with cornstarch and add to the skillet followed by Worcestershire, Dijon, bouillon and all the sauce seasonings. Bring sauce to a simmer while scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan; simmer until sauce thickens almost to desired consistency (it will continue to thicken once you add Parmesan and chicken), stirring often. Whisk in Parmesan and stir until melted, followed by lemon juice. Add chicken back to pan and spoon some sauce over top. Gently simmer for one minute for the chicken to soak in the sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes, noodles, rice or steamed vegetables and Joelle’s bread.

Extra tips: Add any chopped vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, green beans or bell peppers and sauté them after you’ve cooked the garlic for a few minutes. If using frozen peas, thaw and stir in with the Parmesan to warm through. Consider pan frying sliced baby Bella mushrooms, removing from the skillet then adding back to the sauce at the end of cooking. Add one pint halved cherry tomatoes to the skillet with the garlic. Try extra Parmesan cheese to the sauce or layer the chicken with sliced Gouda, mozzarella, provolone, Swiss or Gruyere, cover and turn the skillet to low until the cheese melts.

Joelle’s bread recipe    Fields of Plenty

3 cups bread flour

1 3/4 cups warm water

1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

In a large mixing bowl, mix together warm water and yeast; add salt and flour. Mix until dough is moist but not sticky. Add extra flour or water as needed to reach right consistency. Once mixed, place flour sack towel over bowl and let rise 2-14 hours. When ready to bake, turn on oven to 450 degrees. Place Dutch oven with lid in oven to warm up. On a floured surface, dump dough. Fold and stretch to make a loaf to fit Dutch oven. Place dough on parchment paper. Remove Dutch oven from oven. Place parchment paper and loaf in pan; put on lid. Return to oven to bake for 30 minutes. Then remove lid and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Remove bread from oven and let cool for several hours on wire rack. This will make slicing much easier. Based on humidity, loaf can last from 2-6 days but hers never lasts more than two days because it is always eaten by then.

Pickled fish    (takes 2 weeks to make)

Fish (I like northern pike slabs)

Salt

Water

Vinegar

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled

Sliced fresh ginger (about size of quarter)

Freeze fish fillets/slabs for 48 hours before pickling. Thaw fish and cut into 1-inch chunks. In a non-metal bowl or container, place fish chunks. For every quart of fish, in a separate bowl combine ¾ cup plain salt with about 2 cups of white vinegar. Mix well and pour over fish. Cover container and set in refrigerator or in a cold area. Stir every day for five days. After five days, rinse fish in cold water and soak for 30 minutes. Do this step twice, soaking for 30 minutes each time.

Pickling solution

2 cups vinegar

1-1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup white wine or water

1-2 tablespoons pickling spices (2 teaspoons whole allspice, 2 teaspoons whole mustard seed, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 4 whole cloves, 3 bay leaves)

Bring solution to a boil for five minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and cool completely. In wide mouth Mason jars, lay a layer of fish, topped with sliced veggies. Repeat until jar is full. Pour enough cool brine in jar to cover fish and veggies. Place lids on jars. Refrigerate for seven days. It is so worth the wait.

If you have extra veggies and brine, place them in a jar and pickle without the fish. This is so good on cheese boards, with burgers or just by itself.

As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark Schmitt started an adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.