I've been quite the stranger with blogging lately. I've been really busy between my classes, trying to finish up my experiments before the end of the year, my PCAT prep course starting today, starting to work on my dissertation, and in the meantime still being a good boyfriend! Blogging is good for me, it really gets my mind off things and gives me a nice way to relax.
So this blog is about a meal I made a few days ago. A few days before that, I had a lot of work to do and Megan offered to make dinner for me (it was a delicious asian pasta, you should bug her to blog about it:)). So 2 days after she made that delicious meal, I wanted to do the same for her. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to accompany this post as the meal was made up on the spot and I completely winged it. I didn't really know if the meal was going to come out, I was hoping for the best!
I started off by heating my cast iron skillet to medium high (which is VERY hot on our stove). While the cast iron was heating up, I seasoned 2 very large chicken breasts (they were quite thick) with some salt, pepper, and Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic (my favorite thing to season chicken with). Once the skillet was very hot, I added a touch of oil and seared the chicken breasts. Once I got a nice crust on one side, I flipped the breasts and threw in a package of baby portabella mushrooms into the skillet; whole, not sliced. After the other side of the breasts got a good sear, the breasts were nice and golden on the outside, but very raw on the inside. I added a jar of Bertoli pasta sauce (I think it was tomato and sweet basil). I stirred the sauce around a bit to coat the mushrooms and the chicken and put the cast iron into the oven. After about 20-25 minutes on 400 F, I sprinkled some mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top of the chicken breasts and let the cheese melt for a few minutes back in the oven.
I served the chicken and mushrooms with mashed potatoes. That's right, I made mashed potatoes, I didn't keep them plain this time. Here's the reason. Idaho potatoes are constantly going on sale now so that's what I've been buying lately. However, when these potatoes are boiled they tend to fall apart and get mushy, it's very aggravating. So, to aleve this, after draining the potatoes I added some milk, heavy cream and butter and mashed them up.
Surprisingly, the meal came out amazing! I was really pleased with how everything came out. I recommend that if you make this, to keep the baby bella's whole as I did. They cooked throughout and didn't need to be sliced when eating because they're bit size. When you bit into them you get a pop of warm juicy mushroom. I can't wait to make this again!
