Chicken Florentine

My husband found me Giada De Laurentiis's cookbook Everyday Italian today. Whilst hanging out in William Sonoma he also saw Margarita mix, which made him flashback to our trip to Mexico and he couldn't resist. I have been drinking margarita's for about two hours prior to attempting this recipe.

I am typing this while attempting this recipe. It says it should only be 20 minutes prep time but truth be told. I'm at that already and the chicken is still in the skillet. I am doubling the recipe as well as the size of our family warrants it. I did have to skip out to the store to get some more wine which forced me to call my 16 year old son up to drive me over as the margaritas have left me incapable of that little feat. He is giggling away at him mommy who never drinks.

So here we are.. (spellcheck is definitely going to be used for this one!!) This recipe source Is Giada De Laurentiis. Everyday Italian on the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons shallots, sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed, drained

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly. Shake off any excess flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep it warm.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are translucent, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute. Add the wine. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and boil until the sauce reduces by half, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce, and turn the chicken to coat in the sauce.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in another large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and saute until heated through. Season the spinach, to taste, with salt and pepper. Arrange the spinach over a platter. Place the chicken atop the spinach. Pour the sauce over and serve.

Was it close to 20 minutes? Evaluation

Fast forwarding to and hour later. This recipe was quite good. There are a few things to remember while making it. Most importantly is that you really need to let the sauce simmer down and reduce. I followed the 3 minutes as per directions and it really hadn't reduced much. I added another 6 minutes and served. While it was tasty, it wasn't nearly as tasty as the chicken and sauce I left on the stove for another 10 minutes or so. THAT was delicious. The flavours were all beautifully melded by then and very very good. So keep in Mind...be sure to really let it reduce before serving. I served it over a bed of linguine, placed the spinach, topped it with the chicken and a small ladle of sauce. I did top with more fresh ground pepper and parmigiana cheese.

Will I make it again? I'm not sure. It was tasty but not one I'd call an instant favorite.

For the photos.

The chicken coated with flour, salt and pepper.

Chicken being sauteed in pan

Shallots and parsley

Finished Dish