Handmade by Hoffy: Chicken Gloria

Two of my favorite cooking blogs are Jenny Can Cook and Natasha's Kitchen. I love that they have videos for many of their recipes, which is very nice for people who are new cooks or aren't sure of instructions to a recipe.

I had never heard of Chicken Gloria and thought I would give it a try. I used Natasha's Kitchen recipe for this dish. Oh my goodness, what a great week night meal. I finished it off by spooning the Chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes and we had asparagus on the side. It was definitely comfort food and an easy meal that takes very little time...well worth trying!

This is an easy recipe with just a few ingredients. Skinless chicken breasts, sliced mushrooms, onion and my favorite garlic! I've said this a few times before, but I love recipes with less than 6 ingredients. Supper should not be a difficult deal. When I was young, I would find these recipes with many ingredients. I think I'm a little dyslexic. At that time I had to read recipes over and over and over again. If there were two many ingredients I can say for sure I would always add the wrong thing at the wrong time. So when you get an easy and delicious recipe like this it puts a smile on my face!

Let's Make Chicken Gloria...

You start by seasoning your chicken with salt and pepper. Then dredge the chicken in flour. The next step is adding about 3 T. of oil to a frying pan and brown your chicken on both sides. The chicken doesn't have to be done, as you will be baking it after it is all put together. After browning remove chicken from frying pan and placing the chicken in a 9x13 cake or casserole dish, wipe down your frying pan making sure you have removed all the little bits left in the frying pan. Add another 3 T. of oil and saute the onions and mushrooms until soft and lightly browned. This should take about 3-4 minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then remove onions, mushrooms and garlic from the pan and spread over the browned chicken in the casserole.

Melt 3 T. butter and whisk in the 3 T. of flour to make a roux. Cook the roux until slightly browned and has the smell of cooking pie crust. Add the 1 1/2 C. chicken broth, 1 T. of lemon juice, a pinch of pepper and whisk until smooth. Add 1 cup of half & half or 1/2 C. heavy cream and 1/2 C. milk to the sauce. I also added about 1/2 C. of sour cream. It makes the sauce creamier. Cook to a simmer. Add salt and more pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce over the chicken, mushrooms, and onions. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

In the meantime either peal your potatoes and cook until soft and then mash. Or, because it's just my husband and myself, I sometimes use those little packets of mashed potatoes in the grocery store. I've tried them all, but I find HyVee's brand is as close as you'll get to real mashed potatoes in taste and texture.

Chicken Gloria Recipe...

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs. of skinless chicken breasts, cut chicken breasts into 1"X2" pieces or thereabout.
1 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper, plus more to taste
1 cup flour to coat the chicken
6 T. olive oil, divided
1 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced

Ingredients for sauce:

3 T. unsalted butter (I used salted butter)
3 T. flour for roux
1 1/2 C. chicken brother
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 C. sour cream
1 C. half and half or 1/2 C. heavy cream and 1/2 C. milk

Instructions:

Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in four. Heat 3 T. oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Once oil is hot, add chicken and saute' until golden brown. Work in batches if needed so you don't crowd your pan. There is no need to cook the chicken through, as it will finish cooking in the oven. Move chicken to a 9X13 baking pan.
Scrap your pan and wipe with paper toweling. Add 3 T. of oil and saute' mushrooms and onions until tender and lightly browned. Add garlic and saute' for another 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the onions, mushrooms and garlic over the browned chicken in the baking dish.
Once again, wipe out your large skillet and add the 3 T. of butter. Once melted add the 3 T. of flour and cook until lightly browned. This is the roux for your sauce. You can tell it's just right when you smell the fragrance of pie crust cooking.
Add 1 1/2 C. of chicken broth and lemon juice and stir until it begins to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste. Once thicker, add 1 C. half and half or 1/2 C. heavy cream and 1/2 C. milk. I added 1/2 C. sour cream also. Stir until smooth. Once again season to taste.
Pour sauce over chicken and mushrooms and cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Asparagus our vegetable of choice

I added asparagus for our vegetable. We both love asparagus and here's a quick and easy way of cooking asparagus that turns out perfect every time.

How to break Asparagus by my Grandmother...

My grandmother always told me to break off the ends of the asparagus at it's natural breaking point. You do this by holding the asparagus in both hands and bend until it snaps or breaks. That's the natural breaking point. If you do this, you will never have tough asparagus.

Quick and easy way to cook asparagus...turns out perfect every time!

Wash the asparagus and place on paper toweling. Pour a little olive oil over the top. I use different types of flavored olive oil to make them really tasty. Salt and paper the asparagus and wrap in the paper toweling. Depending on how many spears you have ( usually I only make half of the asparagus and save the other half for another night. I keep the left over ones in the refrigerator in a glass of water until I'm ready to use them for another meal. Put the bundled asparagus in the microwave for 3 minutes. I usually add another 30 seconds and then let them sit in the microwave until ready to serve. They turn out crisp tender every time!