A regular Father’s Day or birthday present to me from my children is a gift box from Omaha Steaks. Afterall, there is no need to worry about sizes or colors or will I use it. Who won’t use stuff from Omaha Steaks?
I have found, though, that the boxes often contain maybe only two steaks. and lots of. other foods – like gourmet hot dogs and burgers, fancy stuffed potatoes, deluxe kielbasa and apple tartlets. But everything is good, top quality, actually. Also included in the assortments are chicken breasts, beautifully trimmed, tender and delicious. I opened the package with four chicken breast this week and they looked too good for an ordinary recipe, so I scoured my sources and settled on Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts. It was one of the best chicken recipes I’ve ever made.
Here’s how.
Add flour to a shallow dish. Season the 4 chicken breasts with salt, pepper and a little paprika. Coat the chicken lightly in flour and add, one at a time, to a large skillet with a little butter and olive oil on a medium high setting. Cook the chicken about 4/5 minutes per side (depending on thickness, mine were not overly thick). Cook until golden brown and remove from the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium low, and add shallots (or a regular onion). Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until soft, then add two large cloves of minced garlic (2 T). Cook another minute, then pour chicken stock into the pan, scraping up all the pan drippings and browned bits. Next, pour in the heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Now add a little pepper, Italian seasoning and the Parmesan cheese. Put the chicken back in the pan, moving the pieces around a little so the flour will help continue to thicken the sauce.
After 2 or 3 minutes, serve the chicken over egg noodles and add lots of the creamy sauce. This is really, really good and fairly easy to prepare. Try it.
Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts
4 chicken breast halves
1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t paprika
1/4 C all-purpose flour – (for dredging)
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 shallots, finely minced (or 1 small yellow onion)
2 Tbsp finely minced garlic
1 1/3 C chicken broth or stock
1 – 1 1/3 C heavy cream
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t dried Italian seasoning
1/3 C grated fresh Parmesan cheese