Recipe: Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms (pan cooked or microwaved)

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH MUSHROOMS

1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned and stems trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil if grilling (1 tablespoon if microwaving)
Salt (to taste)
3 to 4 large garlic cloves (to taste), peeled and minced or pressed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves or 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups homemade or canned chicken or vegetable broth (or more as needed)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 whole chicken breasts, split, boned and skinned (or 4 half breasts)
Chopped fresh parsley, rosemary or thyme leaves for garnish

MAKE THE MUSHROOM TOPPING:
Slice the mushrooms, or, if they're small, quarter them. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and about 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. In a couple of minutes, they'll be sizzling and moist. They're releasing their own water, which will mostly evaporate.

When most of the liquid has evaporated, add the garlic, rosemary and thyme. Stir together for about half a minute, until you smell the garlic cooking.

Add the wine and cook, stirring, until most of the wine has evaporated.

Add 1 1/4 cups of the broth, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste. Is there enough flavor? Add more salt or garlic if not. Grind in some pepper and toss. The mushrooms shouldn't be glazed and the mixture shouldn't be watery; cook a few more minutes if it is. On the other hand, if it seems dry, add more broth. Keep warm while you cook the chicken breasts.

TO PAN-COOK THE CHICKEN:
Toss the chicken breasts with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Heat the grill pan or the skillet you used to cook the mushrooms after cleaning it and drying it over medium-high heat. Drop a bit of water into the pan; if it sizzles away at once, the skillet is hot enough. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook until golden, 3-5 minutes per side. Check one breast to make sure that it is cooked all the way through (it should no longer be pink in the middle). Remove from the heat and transfer to plates or a platter. Spoon on the mushroom mixture, sprinkle with the parsley or other herbs, and serve.

TO MICROWAVE THE CHICKEN:
Place the cooked mushroom mixture in the souffle dish or tart pan. Top with the chicken breasts, fanning them out in the dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pierce the plastic in a couple of spots with the point of a knife, and microwave at 100 percent power for 8 minutes. Remove from the microwave using hot pads. Carefully remove the plastic, being careful not to let the steam burn your hands. Transfer to a platter or plates, spoon the mushrooms over the chicken, garnish with herbs and serve.

Servings: 4
Source: Light Basics Cookbook by Martha Rose Shulman