Week 38: Firetruck Chicken

Recipe:  Chicken breast fillets sauteed with red, green and yellow peppers  (Trust me when I say, my name for the recipe is a much better name.)

From:  "Every Night Italian" by Giuliano Hazan  (I saw it prepared on the Today Show.)

Category:  Main Dishes

Rating: Worthy of a trip to our house by the firefighters.  It was really good, but the pan frying got a little out of control, and the smoke set off the smoke detectors, which notified the fire department.   Nothing was actually burnt, for the record!  Just keep an eye on the smoke level in your home when preparing!!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup yellow onion, finely chopped

1 cup green peppers, cored and diced into 1/4" cubes

1 cup red peppers, cored and diced into 1/4" cubes

1 cup yellow peppers, cored and diced into 1/4" cubes (if unavailable, use 2 cups of red peppers)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

3 whole chicken breasts or 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions: 

1. If using whole breasts, remove the skin, and debone them. Fillet the breasts by cutting them in half horizontally. Wrap with plastic and place in the refrigerator until later.
2. Put 2 tablespoons of the butter, half the vegetable oil and all the onion in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the peppers later over medium heat. Sauté the onion until it becomes a rich golden color.
3. Raise the heat to medium high and add all the peppers. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are tender and have begun to brown lightly.
4. Add the heavy cream and continue cooking until it has reduced by about half. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. Put the remaining butter and vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. When the butter foam begins to subside, carefully slide in as many chicken fillets as will comfortably fit in the pan without overlapping. Cook each side until it begins to brown then transfer the chicken to a platter. Be careful not to cook the chicken much more than about a minute on each side or it will become dry.
6. When all the chicken is done, return the pan with the sauce to a medium low heat. When the sauce is again thoroughly hot put in the chicken fillets, turning them in the sauce until they are heated through and through. Serve at once.

It's possible the the smoke, seen here, might have tipped me off! 

 The recipe for the potatoes you see is up next!