Vive La Bonne Femme!

So the French cooking had to begin somewhere, and Dennis likes curry (which I never would have guessed was in French cooking, but...here is it), so Curried Chicken Comte' it shall be!

Wini Moranville (the Bonne Femme cookbook author) says that the Franche-Comte' region is located on the eastern side of France. 

This dish comes from that region. Think Chicken Florentine...but French!

I found my shallots near the garlic at Publix. I also opted for Fontina cheese- which was easier to find (see below).

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1.5 lbs total)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 large shallot

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp sweet curry powder

1 cup 2% milk

3/4 cup shredded Comte', Gruyere, Emmental, or Fontina cheese (about 3 oz)

1Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

9 oz of fresh spinach (I used the baby spinach found near the bagged salad.)

Look! Just as the reviews (and the introduction to the cookbook) said: ingredients you can easily find in the grocery store!!!

French Cooking Diary Entry #1: Hooray for easily found ingredients!

Now for the cooking. Would there be complicated steps? Obscure utensils needed???

Nope. Pretty much, I pounded the chicken flat (actually the Hubs did that), and cooked it through in 1 Tbsp of butter. I removed the chicken and kept warm. I added the second Tbsp of butter and cooked the shallot until tender (not brown)...PS- I put a YouTube clip on the La Bonne Vie Facebook page showing the easiest way to mince a shallot- its super-easy!

I then added the flour and curry to form a paste and then cooked until brown.

I added the milk slowly and whisked to combine; brought it to a boil and cooked 2 more minutes- the sauce was thickening.

I added a 1/2 cup of cheese, stirred until it melted and set aside.

 Are you smelling the curry yet? It turned a beautiful yellow and the smell was fantastic!

I had to get to the spinach, so I heated the olive oil in a skillet and added the spinach in 2 batches. It was way too much to try to do in one batch. 

I cooked the spinach until it was slightly wilted, and then placed it in my pretty Southern Living 13 x 9 baking dish. The spinach matches the green in the handles.

I placed the chicken on top of the spinach.

I took the curry sauce and covered each piece of chicken evenly, and then sprinkled it with the remaining cheese.

I placed the baking dish under a pre-heated broiler to allow the cheese to melt.

I served this dish over Moranville's Any Night Rice Bake, but serving over rice or mashed/pureed potatoes would be wonderful!

We enjoyed our first home-cooked French meal with a glass of Lonely Cow Sauvignon Blanc!

So I did it! No difficult steps, no weird kitchen contraptions, no frustrating ingredients...just simple, quick, kitchen-to-table French cooking. Hmmm...so this is what the Bonne Femme cooking style is?

Vive la bonne femme! Long live this cooking style...I think I can handle it!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!