Tomato Basil Chicken Breasts
2001-07-20 @ 7:56 p.m.
�
Our tomatoes haven't done as well this year as they have in the past. The plants haven't grown very tall, and the tomatoes aren't ripening right (very slowly and they're a little mealy when they are ripe). I don't know if it's the variety I planted (Sunmaster) or something else. Is it possible for tomatoes to get too much water? I picked a drought resistant variety because the last couple of years have been hideously dry with lots of watering restrictions. So this year we've had plenty of rain. Go figure.
What we wound up with was several red but mealy tomatoes on the vine with brown spots on them and gaping wounds from bird attacks. They weren't good for salads or tomato sandwiches (yum), so I cut the bad spots away and pureed them into tomato sauce. (Blanche the cleaned up tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or so, let them cool and the peelings will almost fall off. Toss them into the food processor and puree.) Then I started thinking about doing something with that tomato sauce. Hence Tomato Basil Chicken Breasts.
First I broiled the chicken breasts in a skillet that could go from oven to stovetop. I sprayed the skillet with olive oil and put two basil leaves (the basil is doing pretty well in the garden) and a couple of stalks of thyme under each breast. (I used boneless breasts.) I squeezed the juice of half a lemon on the breasts and sprayed them with olive oil and salted and peppered them. After they browned on one side, I turned them and put some minced garlic on each breast. When both sides were browned, I took them out of the broiler and moved them to a stove eye. To the skillet I added about a quarter cup each of chopped basil and chopped scallions and about a cup and a half of the tomato puree (you can substitute canned diced tomatoes or canned tomato sauce) and salted. I covered the skillet and let this cook over medium heat and then simmer for 20 or 30 minutes to let the flavors blend and to let the chicken finish cooking. I boiled some fettuccini to serve the chicken and tomato sauce over.
Jake had scored several ears of locally grown Silver Queen corn from a co-worker with a garden, so I got to shuck corn again. This time Sara sat with me on the porch while I shucked. We also had some zucchini from our garden. I boiled the corn and broiled the zucchini. Since I'd already been using the broiler, I cut the zucchinis in half lengthwise and put them cut side up in a baking dish. I sprayed the baking dish with olive oil and then squeezed the other half of the lemon on the zukes, sprayed them with olive and salted and peppered them. It took about 15 to 20 minutes and they were tender and done but still crisp, exactly what I was going for. Yea! (I sprayed them again with olive oil about halfway through cooking to keep them from drying out too much.)
We had Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc with dinner. Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite white wines and I particularly like the Geyser Peak. It worked well with the food. The acidity of the wine matched the acidity of the tomatoes and Sauvignon Blanc seems to go well with basil, too.
It was a bon voyage dinner for Jake and Sara. They went out of town for the weekend leaving early (very early) this morning. They will be home in time for Sunday Brunch and lesbian waffles. We will miss them, but they will be having a good time with other friends in New England, and I will have Badsnake all to myself. Though if Saturday is as long a day at work as today was, she may see less action than she'd like. I'm taking her out for a steak dinner Saturday night (her birthday), that will at least be something. Personally, I'm feeling the need for lots of that special Badsnake attention. We don't seem to have spent much time together this week, and I miss her.
For Abbey Normal, I think this chicken recipe would be a good date meal to cook ahead. You can have it ready when he gets there and keep it covered in the oven on warm until you're ready to eat. If the chicken breasts are very large, cut them in half to encourage smaller portions so he doesn't fill up too much for what you might have in mind for the rest of the evening. An easy (and light) side dish is salad, which can also be made ahead of time and put in the fridge. (Guys don't always like salads, but they expect girls to, so they pretend, at least on the first few dates.) The only thing you wouldn't want to make ahead would be the pasta, but you could serve it over rice and that could be made ahead. Rice sticks a little when it's been sitting, but just toss it into a big bowl where you can stir it with a touch of olive oil and it should fluff up okay.
�
Selling vulva vases! - 8:25 p.m. , 2005-05-13 Dapper dicks - 8:21 p.m. , 2005-05-09 A breezy night in Georgia - 9:12 p.m. , 2005-04-28 Things that go bump in the night - 12:46 p.m. , 2005-04-26 Evil-doer, you face the Tick! - 3:31 p.m. , 2005-04-15