Set up a steamer and add scrubbed baby yukons (and some fresh herbs if you have them ... thyme, rosemary, whatever)
steam ~10 min (untl tender - pokeable with fork or knife)
remove - let them steam off and dry a bit
Heat ... plenty ... of butter in a pan ... med heat? Add potatoes and brown on all sides - they are cooked, so this is about adding flavor and texture
So ... I was making shake and bake pork chops and needed a starchy side and wanted boxed Au Gratin potatos ... and discovered I had no milk. And I had no good alternatives. We are recently moved back in after the fire and not all staples, supplies and routines are back to 100% so OF COURSE there was no damn milk.
The Idahoan Au Gratin boxed potatoes call for 3/4 C milk. I had no milk, but I did have Fage 5% Greek Yogurt. I figured 1/4 - 1/3 C of the whole milk greek yogurt with enough water to equal 3/4 C would do ... and of course I went with 1/3 C Greek Yogurt with water to equal 3/4.
Then I followed the rest of the package instructions - except for temperatures because I had those shake and bake pork chops to cook to. So ... preheat to 450*, cook au gratin potatoes for 10 min - cut temp to 400*, add thiccccc shake n bake coated pork chops, cook 23 min, remove potatoes and pork chops from oven - rest both about 5 min befofre serving.
Oh holy hell ... I will never bother with milk again and ... I am on the verge of recommending using only 1/4 C of Greek yogurt because using the 1/3 C ... these were RIDICULOUS. But only on the verge - it would be fine either way but these are not uncomfortably over the top ... just enough!
Based heavily off:
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/creamy-mushroom-sauce/
and
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chicken-marsala.html
Pretty much chicken marsalla with sauvignon blanc instead of marsalla in the sauce
Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts, boneless skinless, sliced to half thickness and pounded out to 1/4" thickness
3 T Flour
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 T Butter
1 T olive oil
2 small/med shallots
1 T butter
12 oz mushrooms, any kind, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 C white wine
1/2 C chicken broth
2/3 C Heavy Cream
1 T cornstarch + 2 T water or broth
3 T fresh parsley
Directions:
Place the flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a
ziplock bag. Add the chicken to the bag; seal bag tightly and shake to coat
chicken evenly. Set aside.
Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet
over medium-high heat. (Use a stainless steel pan for the best browning.
Nonstick will work too, but you won’t get that nice golden color on the
chicken.) Place the flour-dusted chicken in the pan, shaking off any excess
first, and cook, turning once, until the chicken is golden and just barely
cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a plate and
set aside.
Saute shallot in 1 T butter until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushrooms have
released juices. Add thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the wine to deglaze and loosen any bits off the pan and
simmer a few minutes until the wine has almost evaporated.
Add the chicken broth and cream. Simmer 5 minutes or until
reduced by half.
To thicken the sauce further, combine cornstarch with 2
tablespoons of water (or broth) and mix well. Add cornstarch mixture into the
broth a little bit at a time to reach desired consistency. You may not need all
of the cornstarch mixture.
Let simmer 1 minute.
Season with parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
Notes - used 20 oz mushrooms so upped to 1 C cream + 3/4 c each of wine and broth - could have used more acid - more wine or finish with lemon.
Knife cut on chicken went wild - wound up with several thin slices each breast, no pounding, great result - I will do this on purpose going forward.
Do the mushrooms the correct way - do not add salt and pepper until they release liquid and then don’t add the additional liquids until the pan is near dry.
Use thickener sparingly
Sherry or Marsala would have been better! Lol
Freezing? Some people say this would freeze well, just be sure to stir continuously while reheating. Have not tied it myself, note for posterity in case I decide to.
Reheating - I packaged the leftovers in a Foodsaver bag and was going to toss it in the freezer only to realize I am running short on freezer space ... so I tossed it in the fridge. It is 9/15/23 and time for leftovers. I am reheating sous vide - its already in the bag - it is 100% cooked, it is thin chicken breast cuts in cream sauce ... 155*??? Thinking lower than 165* because of the cream sauce. We'll see - hopefully I will remember to add notes. Since I am sous vising which is as passive as it gets, may as well make the asparagus I was too lazy to make the other night and some pan friend yukons ... recipe (read: random musings) incoming.
(This is still in the "notes that will only makes sense to me" stage - recipe refinement to follow ... maybe)
Notes:
Did you know?! (selfeyeroll) You can eliminate the bubbles that form around the edges of things like this using a kitchen torch! And you SHOULD get rid of the bubbles whether wirth blowtorch or toothpick or leaving it alone for a while until it happens on its own or it will be all pockmark looking.
Egg to Dashi ration should be 1:3 so scale up or down with that ratio in mind
Dashi:
***You can keep used kombu aside, julienne into 3" long pieces and add to leftover katusobushi (also chopped a bit more finely) for making furikake - you also add pretty much teriyaki ingredients to all of that and sautee until pan is nearly dry and shiny shiny shiny and then add toasted sesame seeds - the actual amoutns and ingredients are around here somewhere, hopefully I will kink it at some point ... ***
Recipe:
Ingredients:
Blend eggs with chopsticks ntil uniform, add dashi and salt, mix trying to get as few bubbles as possible. Strain mixture. Add in the add ins to lidded cuips, then add in egg mixture, cover with foil or lids.
Prepare pot to steam the cups - make sure the cups do not touch the bottom of cooking pot and that the containers are not floating - water does not need to actually touch the cups, but CAN touch the cups, so long as the water level does not allow for water to seep inside the cups
Bring the water to a boil and drop to low heat so the water is simmering - should take somewhere around 20 min but it all depends on volume, how thick the cup is, how many add ins, etc.
done when 160*f or more
September 10, 2023
Going for 2 servings of chawanmushi - thinking one egg and whatever 3x that volume in dashi. Made GORGEOUS dashi according to notes above yesterday so I will be using that - I have seen people say you can sub in any stock or use instant dashi (so long as you strain it extra well so it doesn't look nasty when finished) but ... don't. This is literally dashi egg and salt and whatever add ins you decide to use - there is nowhere to hide any weird flavors and every opportunity for a really well crafted dashi to shine. It's so painless to make dashi from kombu, katsuobushi and filtered water and its so front and center in something like katsuobushi - it's not worth making chawanmushi unless you are willing to use good ingredients.
sliced shiitake - added to cups raw
lotsa kamaboko
sauteed enoki
mitsuba
