Cooking At Last

I have been suffering from kitchen malaise for a while. Just haven't felt like cooking. (Another reason to keep the freezer stocked.) But yesterday as I was deleting old emails I came across one from Mommy back weeks ago with a recipe that ALL of her family liked. If you don't have a houseful of people who show up for dinner each night, you don't understand how hard it is to find something that everyone really likes. They might eat it but they don't always love it. But I remember that she told me that she had no leftovers that night. That was a good thing (because they all liked it) and a bad thing (because she had no leftovers for lunch the next day.)

I've always told my daughters that cooking isn't nearly as hard as thinking of what to cook. So yesterday I let Mommy do the thinking. I just used her recipe.

When I was learning to cook in the college home economics lab, we were taught to gather and measure all the ingredients before starting the actual cooking. I did that last night. I set out the onion, mustard and the chicken broth somewhere along in the afternoon. Before I started the chicken, I actually measured the flour and mustard and chopped the onion. So when I really started to cook, this was super simple to make. My kind of dinner. Take a few minutes to do your prep work. It helps.

I bought a package of boneless, skinless chicken breast—three to a pack—and sliced them in half horizontally. I browned them three pieces at a time, not to crowd the pan. Then I put all the chicken into the pan and poured the sauce over it.

CHICKEN DIJON

3 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally (or use 6 chicken cutlets)-My package was 2 lbs.
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoon butter
1 (14.5-oz.) can chicken broth
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons dijon mustard

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. (I didn't measure, just sprinkled.)
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, three pieces at a time, and cook about 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Put all chicken in the pan. Stir in chopped onion.
Whisk together chicken broth, flour, mustard and pour over chicken.
Cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

The only thing I might change next time is to take the lid off the skillet toward the end to let the sauce thicken a bit more. Don't let the dijon mustard frighten you. It's not spicy at all; it just gives the broth a rich flavor. I was surprised. This is good enough for a company meal. And it would be great to "make and take" when you need to take dinner to someone. Easy and delicious.

And so that this cutie and her big sister won't be disappointed when they are here, this morning I stirred up the starter for what Big Sister calls "Mimi bread." The rest of the world calls it sourdough bread. I like her name better. It will be ready when they are here for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to have them home!