New to Me Recipe of the Week

One of my goals for 2018 is to try a new recipe each week. Since I cook each week ( Oh who am I kidding? I cook all the time) I started this as an effort to get me out of my meal rut, plus I am bored cooking and serving the same old meals. Since this is the 5 th week of the year this is the 5th new recipe for the year and it isa serious winner.

I had a pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs that had to be cooked along with 2 baking potatoes that were on the cusp of usability. I found 2 different recipes online and sort of morphed them into this concoction.

                                                    Chicken Florentine in Parmesan Sauce


6 chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless but boned and skin on would work too)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend
 salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups spinach, chopped (I used frozen and it worked fine)
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking dish . (Pam) Put the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pan. Layer if necessary.
Season chicken with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper
Put oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and sear both sides about 2-3 minutes per side then place them on top of the potatoes. Put the spinach evenly over the chicken. ( Yeah right, mine was no where near even.)

     


           Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 cup light cream ( I used half and half)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I only had the kind you shake from the container,)
salt and pepper, to taste


To make the sauce, melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic stirring constantly, until it wilts, about 45 seconds. Whisk in flour until it browns slightly, about 1 minute.
Gradually stir in the chicken broth and herbs. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Stir in the cream and Parmesan until the cheese melts and it is kinda thick, (2 minutes maybe) If the mixture is too gummy, add more milk or broth as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I am not a salt fan so I added no salt, but I did put some pepper in it. For me the cheese has enough salt that the dish needs no more, but that is just me)

Top the chicken with the sauce and pop into the oven until done (About 28 minutes).

This was a huge crowd pleaser and 2 of the 4 of us who ate it had seconds. So much for  my lunch leftovers. This got a double thumbs up from everyone and will most definitely be added to our meal rotation.