I had two family-favourite chicken recipes and had a hard time deciding which one to use, so I did the most logical thing ... I'm using both of them here!

They both use some of the same items (chicken breasts, provolone cheese slices, some spices) and both are cooked in a similar way (pounded flat then sautéed on a skillet), so there's not a lot of separate items needed to buy. As well, I'm including a very simple stir-fried-veggies-on-the-BBQ recipe - really, three non-complicated recipes to use here.

The chicken salsa melt were a huge hit with the kids, while the chicken with provolone/mushrooms were more popular with the adults.

I will post the recipes separately into their own posts below.

Enjoy!

• Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,PepeLePew13, 05:31 PM, 08-28-11
  • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,arkiegrl, 07:30 PM, 08-28-11
    • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,PepeLePew13, 07:49 PM, 08-28-11
      • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,arkiegrl, 04:38 PM, 08-29-11
    • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,samboohoo, 08:26 AM, 08-29-11
      • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,PepeLePew13, 10:29 AM, 08-29-11
      • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,arkiegrl, 04:34 PM, 08-29-11
        • RE: Recipe - Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,foonermint, 05:46 PM, 08-29-11
• Recipe - Chicken Salsa Melt,PepeLePew13, 05:46 PM, 08-28-11
  • RE: Recipe - Chicken Salsa Melt,Breezy, 08:30 AM, 09-02-11
• Recipe - Stir Fried Vegetables on the BBQ,PepeLePew13, 06:00 PM, 08-28-11
• RE: OTCC - Chicken Salsa Melt and Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,qwertypie, 06:24 PM, 08-28-11
  • RE: OTCC - Chicken Salsa Melt and Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,PepeLePew13, 06:49 PM, 08-28-11
    • RE: OTCC - Chicken Salsa Melt and Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,qwertypie, 10:13 PM, 08-28-11
      • RE: OTCC - Chicken Salsa Melt and Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,foonermint, 04:17 PM, 08-29-11
• RE: OTCC - Chicken Salsa Melt and Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,Silvergirl1, 10:47 PM, 08-28-11
• RE: OTCC - Chicken Salsa Melt and Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms,arkiegrl, 09:23 AM, 08-31-11
• Oh Pepe.....,qwertypie, 11:18 PM, 09-01-11
  • RE: Oh Pepe.....,foonermint, 11:37 PM, 09-01-11
  • RE: Oh Pepe.....,qwertypie, 05:45 PM, 09-04-11
    • RE: Oh Pepe.....,foonermint, 07:09 PM, 09-04-11
    • RE: Oh Pepe.....,Snidget, 07:28 PM, 09-04-11
  • Meat Tenderizing/Pressing Gadgets,IceCat, 08:54 PM, 09-04-11
  • The tool I use,weltek, 09:58 AM, 09-06-11
    • RE: The tool I use,qwertypie, 10:50 AM, 09-06-11

LAST EDITED ON 08-28-11 AT 07:52 PM (EST)

Chicken with Provolone and Mushrooms

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt (to be divided)
1/4 tsp. pepper (to be divided)
1/2 tsp. tarragon leaves (or substitute with herbes de Provence since tarragon isn't popular with some tastebuds. If you don't have either tarragon or herbes de Provence, you could use thyme)
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup white wine (if you don't want wine, can substitute with cream of chicken or chicken broth)
1/2 lb. (or 227g) fresh white mushrooms, sliced
4 slices Provolone cheese

To prepare: Put wax paper on top of chicken breasts and pound with a meat pounder - ideally you want them nice and flat, about 1/4 inch thick.

In a bowl, mix the flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper and all of the tarragon or herbes de Provence. When mixed, slap chicken in and make sure it's well-coated on both sides.

In a skillet, sauté in butter for about 6 minutes or so (add more time if not 1/4 inch flat). It should be fork-tender when done.

Add wine (or substitute) to the skillet and turn chicken to coat the other side.

Set chicken aside onto a plate. The butter and wine in the skillet should be greatly reduced by now, but not completely.

Sauté mushrooms with remaining salt and pepper in the leftover butter/wine mix.

Return chicken to the pan. Top with mushrooms and then a slice of Provolone cheese. Cook until cheese melts.

Serve on a plate with stir-fried vegetables or your favourite side.

**Tip for those who want a more heart-friendly recipe, use fat-reduced butter instead of regular.

Here's the pictures:

The ingredients

After the chicken has been dredged in the flour mixture, sauté in butter

After it's been flipped over and the wine about to be added

What the chicken should look like after it's been cooked and then set aside for the mushrooms

Sautéing the mushrooms - the leftover butter/wine mix should be fully reduced into the mushrooms when it's done

The final product - I did two with mushrooms topped with the cheese and one with cheese only (since I don't like mushrooms)

Pene said that for her, the mushrooms really made the chicken's overall flavour pop.

Any particular white wine? I'm not very experienced with cooking with wine, so what would you recommend?

Pretty much any white wine would do - most wines have a label on the back that offer suggestions on what to pair with it; look for any that says chicken. No need to break the bank for this kind of dish.

I used a Sauvignon Blanc for this recipe, but a riesling or a chardonnay would be just as good. If you're putting in a lot of hot spices or salsa, perhaps a pinot grigio or riesling would be the best match.

I have an open bottle of Moscato that I may try. Then again, I may just go with the chicken broth in the hopes that my DS would try this.

Arkie: I always buy those little four-packs for things like this. That way I'm not opening and wasting a whole bottle.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

*hic*

It's not a waste when you have the wine along with your dinner.

Thanks for the tip, Boo! I always forget that's an option.

Is there some kind of *snickercode* in here?

Chicken Salsa Melt

4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
jar of salsa, as mild or spicy as you like
8 slices of Provolone cheese (Monterey Jack cheese also works well here)
Your favourite spices to go with chicken and/or salsa -- I use 1/4 tsp. portions of sage, thyme, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. I know some of you south of the border would probably put in a dash or two of hot pepper or jalapenos - knock yourself out!

To prepare:
Put wax paper on top of chicken and pound with a meat pounder until decently flat.

Season the chicken with your spice mix.

Sauté the chicken breasts until ready, when the juices no longer run pink.

Put chicken breasts on a greased baking sheet. Spoon salsa on top of each chicken breast. Top with two slices of Provolone cheese.

Broil in oven until cheese is melted.

Well? What are you waiting for? Eat!

The pictures:

The ingredients

Sautéing the chicken
(yes, I realized while cooking that I forgot to pound the chicken flat, so it took longer than expected due to the thickness)

After the chicken is ready, place on baking sheet then top with salsa

Adding the cheese on top of the salsa...

... and it's ready after a couple minutes of broiling in the oven

This one has consistently proven to be a big hit with the kids - Poppy is a notoriously picky eater at the age of 6, and this is the one he gobbles down the fastest.

I make this packet style in the oven with sliced red potatoes underneath for a full dinner.

Alas, I neglected to take pictures here, but will edit them in once I get them done in a couple of days...

Ingredients - mix and match with whatever vegs you like, but here's what I use:

red bell peppers
green bell peppers
broccoli
carrots
celery
2-3 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable oil)
whatever herbs you like such as sage, thyme, herbes de Provence, oregano, Greek spice, etc.
optional - Italian salad dressing

Really, you can use any oil-based mix such as Italian salad dressing instead of EVOO/veg oil, but you want something oily that won't stick to the wok on the BBQ.

To prepare:

Chop the vegetables - keep the peppers all the same thickness and chop the carrots/celery pretty thinly so they'll keep pace with the peppers.

In a bowl, mix oil or dressing with all of the herbs and spices. Toss well with vegetables and then marinate in the fridge for a hour or two.

On the BBQ, pour vegetables into a pre-heated wok over medium heat. Keep the vegetables stirred moving every minute or so, so that they'll be evenly cooked and won't be as liable to stick to the wok.

After about 8 minutes or so, the vegetables should be ready - still a bit crispy but should have that BBQ browning char all over.

***Note, the BBQ likely will flare up when the marinade hits the hot parts - just move the wok momentarily out of the way and/or use a spray bottle to put out the flare up.

Oh -- these look fantastic! And I like how you only use 1/3 cup of wine for the first recipe. Leftovers for drinking with dinner!

Heh... I also used a little bit in the salsa melt one for the sautéing...

As for the leftovers, just as long as you don't end up like this gal...
(warning, salty language)

"it's important when you are cooking, to use food."

The whole problem about baking.. is, well, everything.

I think I will make the salsa melt chicken this week and the other recipe next week. I love new chicken recipes! Thanks, Pepe.

I made the chicken with provolone and mushrooms last night. I decided to use chicken broth instead of wine, and forgot to season the mushrooms when I was sauting them. Other than the lack of seasoning for the mushrooms, it was delicious! My son wouldn't try it, but the roommate liked it, even if he did feel the need to point out my error with the mushrooms.

I will probably be trying the other recipe this weekend.

These were soooooooo good.
We preferred the wine chicken (even though the girls scraped off all those yucky mushrooms), but the salsa chicken was also very good.

some fiddling:
I used portabella mushrooms and red peppers instead of white mushrooms.
I threw a little bit of marsala wine in with the white wine. I wanted to have enough wine leftover to have with dinner, but since I poured myself a glass this morning to celebrate the arrival of Sam's yellow school bus of mercy, I was a little short.
I may have accidently poured in a little more wine when the mushrooms and peppers were sauteeing.

With the salsa chicken, I didn't have sage, so I subbed cumin instead.

I didn't grill veggies since I added the peppers to the'shrooms and I served the meal with basmati rice.

A question for you foodgadgetophiles-- is there any gadget that will make pounding the bejeebus out of chicken, etc. easier? I know I would make this and other recipes like it more often if I had such a gadget.

←"Gadget"*
Duh. You'll forget all about it.

*_{I think that's what they call it in Quintana Roo}