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!
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| 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.
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| I added the milk slowly and whisked to combine; brought it to a boil and cooked 2 more minutes- the sauce was thickening. |
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| 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!
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| I placed the chicken on top of the spinach. |
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| 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.
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| 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!
