Nobody likes Mondays, the start of a long and boring work week. Which makes it a great day to host a dinner, to make the fun of the weekend last one day more. Not that I regularly host dinners, but I should, just to practice my cooking a bit more.
I invited a couple of my cousins over for Season Six of Sex and the City (in my own defense, I have to say I have few other pop culture guilty pleasures.) In honor of Carrie's flight to Paris with the ballerino Mikhail Baryshnikov (and yes, I looked up the spelling), I decided to make quelque chose française.
The chicken recipe I adapted from Cooking Light, and the roasted potatoes from Barefoot Contessa Parties! The best way to cook both is potatoes first, since they take longer to roast in the oven.
Provençal Chicken
Serves 4
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup low-fat chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (a little hard to find, but try Whole Foods)
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Flat breasts are a good thing. At least in cooking. Chicken breasts cook better and more evenly if they are flattened to about half an inch, so place some plastic wrap over the meat and pound them flat with something heavy, like a meat mallet or rolling pin. Uncover, and sprinkle both sides evenly with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook about 6 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
Add the garlic to the pan and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour in the broth and herbes de Provence. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Cook until the broth is reduce to about half the amount. Remove from the heat and add lemon juice and butter, stirring until the butter is completely melted. Spoon the sauce over the chicken.
Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4
1 1/2 pounds of small potatoes (I used Yukon because they were handy, but go with the small red ones. I can't remember what their official name is.)
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl. Chop the potatoes into halves or quarters and toss them in the bowl. Mix them around until they're nice and coated.
Spread the potatoes out onto a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for an hour, turning them over every 10 to 15 minutes with tongs so they brown evenly on all sides. Be careful not to have your oven racks set too low. Mine were and the potatoes came out a bit more crisp than I would have liked. Toss with minced parsley and serve with the chicken.
As for Carrie, she never made it to Paris. Blockbuster neglected to inform me that I was only paying for the first DVD of the second half of the sixth season (confusing, I know), so we never got to the last few episodes. Alors, c'est la vie.
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