CHICKEN and MUSHROOM TAGLIATELLE Serves 6 to 8. By Dennis W. Viau; an original recipe. This recipe started out as a simple explanation for making a basic white sauce and then expanding it into a meal. White sauces are used in many dishes. Once you learn the simple techniques, you can create a variety of meals. Ingredients: For the Cream Sauce: 12 tablespoons (6 ounces/170g) whole butter 2 cups (473ml) heavy cream Optional: ¼ cup (60ml) dry sherry or dry white wine Freshly grated white pepper to taste About ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg Salt to taste 2 ounces (57g) freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese For the Pasta: 1½ to 2 pounds (630 to 907g) flat noodles such as tagliatelle or fettuccine (or make your own from scratch there is a recipe for Pasta From Scratch on my web site) For the Chicken and Mushrooms: 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 dozen medium mushrooms, sliced 3 to 4 chicken thighs (you can use 2 large chicken breasts) totaling about 1½ pounds (630g) meat only, cut into bite-sized pieces. Optional: ¼ cup (60ml) dry sherry ¼ teaspoon ground oregano 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Directions: For the Cream Sauce: Melt the butter in a large skillet and then whisk in the heavy cream. Optional: Add the dry sherry or white wine. Season with white pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Heat to a boil and then remove from the heat. Lightly stir in the grated cheese do not stir to much or the cheese will melt and become stringy. Set aside. The sauce will be thickened in a later step. For the Chicken and Mushrooms: Start water heating in a large pot (for the noodles). Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Sauté the chicken with the sherry just until cooked do not brown and the liquid is nearly all evaporated. Return the mushrooms to the skillet and add the cream sauce. Add the lemon juice, which will lightly thicken the sauce by slightly curdling the heavy cream. Adjust for salt. Boil the noodles according to package directions. Drain and plate. Spoon plenty of the chicken and mushroom cream sauce over the noodles. Garnished with additional grated cheese at the table, if desired. The Step-by-Step directions begin on the following page. 1 20140114
1 STEP-BY-STEP 2 For the video I chose to make my own pasta from scratch. There is a recipe in Basics in the Recipe Archive. You can purchase dry tagliatelle or fettuccine at the grocery store and cook it according to package directions. 2 This is my mise en place for my cream sauce. The object to the left is my nutmeg grater and one of my nutmeg pods. When possible, I prefer to work with fresh nutmeg for a better flavor.
3 3 This basic white sauce is easy to make (there is more than one method for making a white sauce this one is made without flour, which is good for those who might be gluten intolerant). Melt the butter, whisk in the cream, and season the mixture. Heat until hot and then remove from the heat. Then gently stir in the grated cheese. Set aside until needed. 4 To start the chicken and mushroom mixture, sauté the sliced mushrooms until tender. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. (The volume here doesn t match the list of ingredients above because I am making only enough for this demonstration.)
5 4 Sauté the chicken until just cooked. Optional: When adding the chicken to the pan you can add about a quarter cup of dry white wine or dry sherry to the pan. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates. 6 Add the cream mixture made earlier. Do not stir this around too much because the cheese in the mixture could become stringy. Adding the lemon juice with slightly thicken the sauce. Adjust for salt, if necessary.
7 5 When the noodles are cooked and drained, plate individual servings topped with the chicken and mushroom cream sauce. Alternatively, you could pour the sauce into the pan of drained noodles, mix well, and then serve. Optional: garnish with a little shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese at the table. Conclusion I believe that learning to make some simple sauces is the beginning of creating many delicious dishes. This recipe is only one of many possibilities.