Mise en place makes everything easier... except the dishes...

Tuesdays have become my new recipe day. I work from home so I can start working on things right at 2:30. I also can meal prep a little for later in the week. Last night was making a meal for Friday for the crockpot and making a bar recipe for a birthday party on Thursday... making some salads for my lunches - AND making this amazing Mushroom Chicken dish. I've been learning the art of mise en place - measuring all my ingredients before I start cooking, getting everything together in front of me. It makes for a LOT of dirty dishes but it makes cooking so much easier. I know I'm not forgetting anything and everything is right there. I am thankful for the dishwasher because oh man the mess of dirty dishes it creates! I did make a few subs with this. I used two containers of mushrooms mostly because we love mushrooms - I used the baby portabella because they were on sale. I did not have any chicken stock - oddly enough... so for the sherry I used a bouillon cube, half a cup of water, butter and garlic. It worked great.
We had garlic butter noodles with this because I knew my family would love those and be so excited for dinner no matter what I was making. Bonus was they loved the chicken and mushrooms too. Yay for another good one for the rotation. I will say it's not super easy. More pounding the chicken, dredging, frying, etc... but in the end it's worth the work.

Mushroom Chicken
10 oz. mushrooms, button or baby bella work well
2 Tablespoons salted butter
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt/Pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
Sauce
2 ½ cups beef broth
1 chicken bouillon cube or 1 tsp better than bouillon
1 teaspoon soy sauce, can sub Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon EACH: mustard powder, dried thyme
½ cup dry white wine, see notes
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup heavy cream


Prep Work
Combine beef broth, chicken bouillon, soy sauce, onion powder, mustard powder, and thyme. Set aside.
Combine cornstarch with 3 Tablespoons of cold water in a sealable container and shake to combine. Set aside in a cool place.
Gently rinse mushrooms and pat completely dry. Slice if needed.
Slice the chicken lengthwise into 2-3 thinner slices. Pound with a meat tenderizer if needed, the chicken will plump up more when cooked. Aim for ½ inch thick slices.
Cook the Mushrooms
Melt butter over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. Allow them to brown on each side for 3-4 minutes, undisturbed. Sauté in batches if needed, leaving space around them will allow them to crisp up more. Add a little more butter and/or a splash of olive oil during cooking if needed. Remove once golden brown and set aside on a plate.
Dredge/Sear the Chicken
Lightly sprinkle each side of the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and tap off excess.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add 3 pieces of chicken, leaving room around each. Sauté for 4-5 minutes per side, until a golden brown crust has developed. Remove and set aside. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of chicken.
Pro Tips: Make slight adjustments to the heat, (up or down), as needed during cooking. Add an additional splash of olive oil if needed throughout cooking. Try to leave the chicken undisturbed as it cooks to get a nice crusty sear.
Deglaze the Pan
Turn the heat off and remove any excess oil, but leave the brown bits in the pan. (This is called “fond” and will give the sauce plenty of flavor.)
Add the white wine and the garlic and set heat to medium. Use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pot. Let it bubble gently until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
Finish the Sauce
Add the beef broth mixture and increase heat slightly to bring to a gentle boil. Let it bubble and reduce for 10 minutes.
Shake the reserved cornstarch mixture and slowly add it to the bubbling sauce, stirring continuously, until incorporated. The sauce will thicken pretty quickly. Reduce heat to low.
Slowly add in the cream, stirring continuously. Add the mushrooms.
Add the chicken back to the pot along with any juices from the plate. Spoon the sauce on top. Cover partially and let the chicken heat through for 5 minutes or so. Serve with mashed potatoes or Buttered Noodles and roasted green beans or asparagus.