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Marry Me Chicken

Marry Me Chicken

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Yield: 2

Jean-Pierre

Originally created by the editorial staff at Delish, its popularity is undeniable. This dish has become a beloved favorite for romantic dinners and special occasions, proving that sometimes, the way to someone’s heart truly is through their stomach.
This dish is as delightful as its name suggests, combining tender chicken with a creamy and flavorful sauce that’s rich with tomatoes, spinach, basil, and a touch of Dijon mustard.
Note: Hmm, not impressed. I didn’t mix parmesan into the sauce, but added it at serving and it made the sauce VERY salty. Also I left the red chili pepper flakes out and added to my serving.

For the chicken:

  • 1lb chicken breast, halved
  • 2TBS garlic olive oil or clarified butter
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1TBS butter
  • ½cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1TBS tomato paste
  • 1TBS garlic, minced
  • ½-¾cup chicken stock
  • 12fresh basil leaves
  • 1tsp dried oregano
  • 1tsp red chili pepper flakes
  • 12fresh basil leaves, plus more for chiffonade
  • 1cup spinach leaves
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • ½cup heavy cream
  • 1TBS Dijon mustard
  • ½cup parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
  • 1TBS butter for finish

For the barley side:

  • 1cup quick barley
  • 2cups chicken stock
  • 2TBS butter
  • ½red bell pepper, finely diced
  • 2TBS parmesan Reggiano, grated
  • 1TBS parsley chopped and a few basil leaves if you have them


Prepare the chicken:

Season halved and butterflied chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

In a large fry pan, heat garlic olive oil or clarified butter over medium-high heat until it reaches 365°F. Add the chicken and place a splatter shield on top of pan.

Sauté chicken until golden-brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.

In the same frying pan, add butter. sun-dried tomatoes, stirring for a minute. Add tomato paste and cook for a minute to caramelize the paste slightly.

Add the garlic and when fragrant, add chicken stock to deglaze the pan.

Tear half of the leaves of basil and reserve the rest for chiffonade at the end. Add oregano, chili flakes (you can add to individual plates if some are spice adverse), lemon zest, and spinach leaves, allowing them to wilt slightly in the sauce.

Pour in heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in Parmesan cheese until melted and the sauce thickens. Add Dijon mustard and basil leaves, stirring to combine.

Return chicken to the skillet, spooning sauce over the breasts. Let simmer gently for 5 minutes, allowing the chicken to finish cooking and absorb the flavors of the sauce. 

Remove from the heat and mix in 2 TBS butter.

Prepare the barley side:

Cook quick barley in chicken stock according to package instructions. Stir in butter, diced red bell pepper, parsley, and a few basil leaves if you have them. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Plate:

Use an ice cream scoop to place one scoop of barley on the plate. Place a chicken breast leaning on the barley. Top with sauce.

Note:

Sauce Consistency: The key to the perfect Marry Me Chicken is in the sauce. Aim for a creamy, velvety texture that’s neither too thick nor too thin. If your sauce is too runny, let it simmer a bit longer. If it’s too thick, a splash of chicken stock can thin it out. Remember, the sauce should coat the back of a spoon nicely.

For an extra burst of flavor: add a splash of white wine to the sauce before adding the cream. The acidity of the wine will cut through the richness of the sauce, adding an extra layer of complexity to the dish. Just make sure to let the wine reduce by half to cook off the alcohol and concentrate the flavors.
Think Creamy Polenta, Buttery Mashed Potatoes, or even a simple side of Aromatic Rice. Today we are making this amazing dish with a delicious Barley Risotto.
As for side dishes:  Marry Me Chicken pairs wonderfully with a variety of vegetables. A side of Buttery Asparagus Tips, Brussels Sprouts, or a light, citrusy salad can balance the richness of the sauce. For wine enthusiasts, a glass of crisp Chardonnay or a light-bodied Pinot Noir complements the creamy sauce and enhances the overall dining experience.

Pasta with Chicken & …

Pasta with Chicken & …

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Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Broccoli & Cream Sauce

Yield: 4 Servings

Scott Nowell

Circa 1994: Another church potluck meal. It makes a nice, simple family meal. Either the broccoli or the sun-dried tomato can be eliminated or increased as desired. (hint: double the tomatoes)

Use your imagination on the type of pasta and protein, shrimp, pork, beef. Just about anything will work.

Chicken:

  • 1TBS oil
  • 1lb boneless chicken breasts
  • salt & pepper
  • 1tsp Italian seasoning

Pasta:

  • 8oz Rotini, Penne, etc.

Vegetables:

  • 8oz broccoli, small florets
  • ½cup sun-dried tomatoes oil reserved, sliced
  • 2TBS oil from sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2TBS pine nuts, toasted (Optional)

Cream sauce:

  • 1cup heavy cream
  • 1tsp dried basil
  • salt & pepper

For serving:

  • ¼cup Parmesan cheese shredded
  • ½oz Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped fine

Broccoli and pasta:

Bring one gallon of water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 TBS salt and broccoli. Cook for until starting to soften (about 2 minutes), remove to a bowl of ice water with a spider.

Return water to a boil and add pasta. Cook until just al dente, a minute or two less than manufacturer’s directions. Reserve a cup of the starchy water, then drain and set pasta aside.

Chicken breasts:

While the pasta is cooking, season chicken with salt and pepper and a good sprinkle of Italian seasoning.

Heat oil until hot in large sauté pan. Add chicken breasts and brown on both sides for 2-3 minutes until nicely browned. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Wipe out and set pan aside, it will be used later. Slice each chicken breast on an angle in 3 – 6 slices. Chicken will finish cooking later.

Assembly:

Return pasta pot to heat, add cream, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 2 to 3 minutes until reduced and thickened slightly.

Add tomatoes and basil, stir. Return sliced chicken breasts to pan and simmer until cooked through 2 to 3 minutes.

Return pasta to pot. Add toasted pine nuts, is using. Mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a serving dish and top with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Sun-Dried Tomato Meatloaves

Sun-Dried Tomato Meatloaves

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with Onion Couscous & Roasted Carrot-Zucchini Jumble

Yield: 2

Baked on a sheet pan, with craggy edges for crisping and browning. Filled with chewy bits of sun-dried tomato that burst with tangy, savory flavor. Then smothered in a creamy onion sauce. The meatloaves are accompanied by roasted carrots and zucchini, plus buttery couscous.
Prep: 10 Cook: 35

  • 6oz carrots
  • 1onion
  • 1tbs Italian seasoning
  • 2tbs cream cheese
  • 1zucchini
  • 1½oz sun-dried tomatoes
  • ¼cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 10oz ground beef
  • 2½oz Israeli couscous
  • 2oz chicken stock concentrates
  • salt & pepper
  • ¼tsp sugar
  • 2tsp olive oil
  • 2tsp cooking oil
  • 2TBS butter

Prep:

Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425°F. Wash and dry produce.

Trim, peel, and cut carrots on a diagonal into ½-inch-thick pieces. Trim and halve zucchini lengthwise, cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick half-moons. Finely chop sun-dried tomatoes. Halve, peel, and finely dice onion.

Roast veggies:

Toss carrots and zucchini on one side of a baking sheet with a large drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on top rack for 5 minutes (you’ll add more to the sheet then).

Season & form meatloaves:

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine panko with 1 TBS water, mix with your hands until pasty. Add beef, Italian Seasoning, half the sun-dried tomatoes, 2 TBS onion, ½ tsp salt, and pepper, mix to combine.

Form beef mixture into two 1-inch-tall loaves.

Bake meatloaves:

Once veggies have roasted 5 minutes, remove sheet from oven. Add meatloaves to empty side of sheet.

Return to top rack, roast until veggies are browned and tender and meatloaves are cooked through, 15-18 minutes.

Cook couscous:

Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add couscous and half the remaining onion, cook, stirring, until couscous is lightly toasted, and onion is softened, 4- to 6-minutes.

Stir in ¾ cup water, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until couscous is tender, 6- to 8-minutes.

Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.

Make sauce:

While couscous cooks, heat a drizzle of oil in a small pan over medium-high heat. Add remaining onion and remaining sun-dried tomatoes, cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3- to 5-minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add half the stock concentrates, ½ cup water, and ¼ tsp sugar, cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 2- to 4-minutes.

Turn off heat. Stir in cream cheese until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Finish & serve:

To pot with couscous, stir in 1½ TBS butter and remaining stock concentrate. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Divide meatloaves, couscous, and roasted veggies between plates. Drizzle meatloaves with as much sauce as you like. Serve with any remaining sauce on the side.

Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Shrimp

Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Shrimp

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Yield: 4 Servings
Adapted from: Cafe Delites

Fast, simple dinner. Serve with Couscous.

  • 2TBS salted butter
  • 6cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 1lb shrimp — tails on or off
  • 1small yellow onion, finely diced
  • ½cup white wine
  • 5oz jarred sun dried tomato strips in oil, drained
  • 1½-1¾cups heavy cream or half-and-half
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3cups baby spinach leaves
  • ⅔cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2tsp dried Italian seasoning or equivalent herbs
  • 1TBS fresh parsley, chopped

Slurry:

  • 1TBS cornstarch mixed with 1 TBS of water (optional)


Preheat skillet and oven:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. While the skillet heats, preheat the oven for the boule.

Saute shrimp:

Melt 2 TBS butter and add in the garlic and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the shrimp and fry 1½ minutes on each side, until just cooked through and pink. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Saute onion:

Fry the onion in the butter remaining in the skillet until it softens. Pour in the white wine and reduce by half. Add the sun dried tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes to release their flavors.

Heat bread:

Put the boule in the oven.

Sauce:

Reduce heat to low-medium heat, add the heavy cream or half and half and bring to a gentle simmer, while stirring occasionally. Check seasoning and adjust to taste with salt and pepper.

Add in the spinach leaves and allow to wilt in the sauce, and add in the Parmesan cheese. Allow sauce to simmer for a further minute until cheese melts through the sauce. (For a thicker sauce, add the slurry to the center of the pan, and continue to simmer while quickly stirring the mixture through until the sauce thickens.)

Finish:

Add the shrimp back into the pan; sprinkle with the Italian herbs and parsley, and stir through.

Serve:

Serve over Couscous, pasta, rice, steamed veg or with a nice boule.

Shrimp Wannahavit

Shrimp Wannahavit

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Yield: 4 Servings
Scott Nowell

Spur of the moment special. Basically, pasta with shrimp and asparagus with a cream sauce. Feel free to substitute any pasta, green vegetable or protein. Chicken or Kielbasa are nice substitutes.

Pasta:

  • 8oz Farfalle (bow tie pasta) or similar

Protein:

  • 2lb 16/20 (or 21/25) Shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed (substitute 1½ to 2 lbs sliced chicken breast, 1-2 Kielbasa sliced 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick, etc.)

Vegetable:

  • 1bunch asparagus (substitute green beans, broccoli, etc.)

Wannahavit:

  • 1cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 1medium shallot, minced
  • 2-4cloves garlic, minced, about 1 heaping TBS
  • 1cup heavy cream
  • ½-¾cup shredded parmigiana cheese
  • salt and pepper

Get your mese together! Mise en place that is. Cut, trim and measure everything before you start cooking.

Season shrimp (or chicken) with salt and pepper. Do not season Kielbasa.

Prep and blanch green vegetable: Cut the wooden bottom 2 to 3 inches from asparagus and discard. Peel the next two to three inches of the asparagus and then cut into thirds or quarters to make bite size pieces. For fresh green beans, trim ends and cut into 2-inch lengths.

In your favorite pasta pot, bring a gallon of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 TBS salt to the boiling water and stir.

Blanch the green vegetable for 2 to 3 minutes in boiling water to desired consistency, remove with a spider or sieve and plunge into ice water. Set aside.

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Stir and cook to package directions for al dente.

Reserve: 1 cup of pasta cooking water and then drain pasta.

Sauté shrimp and vegetable: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 TBS butter and melt until foaming. When the foaming stops add 1 TBS olive oil and swirl to mix. Add shrimp and minced shallot, reduce heat to medium and cook about 2 minutes on one side until slightly browned. Flip shrimp over and cook for another 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Mix and remove shrimp mixture to bowl including any oil in the pan. If using chicken, make sure it is cooked through. Kielbasa should be nicely browned.

Return skillet to heat and add another TBS of olive oil. Add the blanched green vegetable and cook for 2 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, mix and cover the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. If the pasta isn’t ready yet, remove to bowl with shrimp.

Assembly: Turn heat down to medium and return pasta to its pan and add reserved shrimp, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes. Add a TBS or olive oil or two if needed. Pour in 1 cup heavy cream, and the grated parmigiana cheese. Mix well until heated through. Taste and season with salt and pepper. It will probably need about a teaspoon of kosher salt and ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper. If the sauce is to thin, add some of the reserved pasta cooking water and mix until you get the desired consistency.

Mix, serve.

Fettucine with Shrimp & Sun-dried Tomatoes

Fettucine with Shrimp & Sun-dried Tomatoes

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Yield: 2 to 3 Servings
Scott Nowell

2016: This is a great tasting combination that is easy to put together. It’s titled Fettucine, but any pasta would be fine.

  • 6oz fettuccine, (any kind of pasta will work)
  • 1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved.
  • ½packet unflavored gelatin
  • ¼cup water
  • 5-6cloves minced garlic
  • ½cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
  • handful of green beans, frozen or blanched.
  • olive oil
  • 2TBS butter

Start water boiling for pasta.

Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup water in a small cup to bloom.

Shrimp stock:  Meanwhile, sauté shrimp shells in a teaspoon of olive oil in a 10-inch skillet. Sauté for a couple of minutes until shells are pink. Add a cup of water and a bay leaf to the pan. Bring to a medium boil. Boil until water reaches boil. Pour through a strainer into small bowl. Pour gelatin mixture into bowl with shrimp stock and stir well.

Add salt to taste to pasta water. Add pasta and cook until al dente.

Shrimp: Add a TBS of olive oil to skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add shrimp and sauté for a minute or so on each side. Add sun-dried tomatoes to skillet and saute for a minute or two. Remove from heat.

When pasta is nearly done, add a handful of green beans to pasta water and return to boil. Drain and return to pan over medium heat.

Add shrimp stock to pasta and beans. Bring to a boil and stir. Add shrimp and tomatoes to pasta. Add butter, stir, remove from heat. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as necessary.

Serve.