Farm Share Number Two!

Isn't it pretty?

So this week was the advent of the BREAD and CHEESE shares!!! Thanks to Corey McLaughlin for practically forcing me to buy them.

The bread was a very herb-y focaccia that didn't last the night. There were two cheeses - FETA, which everyone hates but me so hurrah, I get to eat it all! And some CHEVRE that was very popular on the bread and also didn't last the night. Because someone left it on the counter. Someone who will be shut out of the cheese share next time. And might be kicked out of the marital bed if he mistreats cheese like that again...

But enough about the cheese tragedy. Our fruit this week was strawberries, two beautiful quarts. They were picked away at for two days and the rest were frozen for smoothies.


Our veggies were splendid. There was only one that I hadn't cooked with before let's see if you can identify it!

• two pudgy, juicy tomatoes
• garlic
• scallinos
• fennel

If you guessed fennel, you win the prize! Which is the rest of the garlic, because I will never get around to using all of it...

Now here is the opening salvo in farm share eating. I cut some of the bread and topped it with a bit of feta and a strawberry half to eat while I cooked. Because self control is for the weak. The rest of my family ripped into it as well. I managed to cut a few slices and set them aside for later before the last crumbs were attacked.

These are some of the ingredients for Chicken Milanese with Tomato and Fennel Sauce, which was what I ended up making. So, the recipe calls for cherry tomatoes, I substituted one of my fresh ones. It also called for garlic and fennel - had them both! And it wanted mascarpone cheese, which is completely different from goat cheese, but it still came out delicious. (If not pretty...)

 Isn't it pretty when I chop things? The tomato is in the yellow bowl, looking like strawberries, the garlic is in the orange and the fennel is in the blue. 

You can also see the chicken tenders - not breasts as the recipe calls for because I have GONE ROGUE on this recipe. You can't contain me food network! I am off the rez! I breaded them and cooked them in a little olive oil. 

Now back to business...

 I cooked the fennel in the chicken scrapings and it smelled so good! I only used half the fennel and twice the garlic and while it was delicious, I am curious as to how it would have tasted if, well, anything I did resembled the actual recipe!

I also added the special surprise guest, dried thyme! Which I have in my newly and beautifully organized spice cabinet. Stay tuned, someday I will post on that and it will knock your socks RIGHT OFF!!

Then I stirred this and stirred this and it smelled delicious and yet others in my family chose to eat this.

Which I call stupid white food plate. Plain chicken with brown rice and a piece of bread. How dull, how bland, how much less like a crime scene looking than what I actually ate.

Yes, I understand that this looks much like what many a cat has left on many a carpet. But it was delicious! Now if you look at the picture from the online recipe, you will note that they placed the chicken ON TOP of the sauce. That is a really good idea and one that I should have taken into consideration. 

I put my bread down, topped it with chicken and then ladled the cat sick, I mean sauce, over top. But I ate it bravely and it was delicious. And the bread was actually too much. It wasn't necessary. The sauce was a lot denser and more veggie friendly than it seemed. And I only used half the cheese that was called for because I am not selfish.


In a perfect world, it would have looked more like this. Pretty yummy looking, isn't it?

I will now add the recipe that I completely bastardized for this meal and leave you to your own devices. Enjoy!

[I just reread the recipe and it clearly says, "Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and spoon the sauce over the top before serving." This is clearly a ploy to make sure that theirs is the prettiest!]

 

Chicken Milanese with Tomato and Fennel Sauce

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Total Time: 43 min Prep 15 min Cook 28 min

Yield:  4 to 6 servings

 

Ingredients

Chicken: 

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups plain bread crumbs

2/3 cup grated Parmesan

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

4 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless and skinless chicken breasts, tenderloins removed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Saucee:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 1/2 cups (12 ounces) cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

Directions

For the chicken: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a wire rack.

Using 3 wide shallow bowls, add the flour to 1, the eggs to another and to the third bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, basil, and thyme.

On a work surface, put the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet, lightly pound the chicken until approximately 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly, then dip into the beaten eggs, allowing the excess egg to drip off. Coat the chicken with the bread crumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere.

In a large, nonstick saute pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add 2 pieces of the breaded chicken into the oil and cook until light golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Reserve the cooking juices in the saute pan.

For the sauce: Using the same saute pan, add the olive oil to the reserved cooking juices and heat over medium heat. Add the fennel and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, garlic and thyme. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes until the tomatoes are tender. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir until the mixture is creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and spoon the sauce over the top before serving.