It’s true. I am a
grocery cart snoop. I confess that I
love to look in other peoples grocery carts to see what new and interesting
treasures they found. I have meddled my
way into a plethora of new food items and awesome recipes from friends and acquaintances
in the grocery store. It always seems to
take me longer than most to do my weekly/daily/hourly grocery shopping – it’s
not just a “find the items on the list” excursion, a trip to the store can be a
social and culinary adventure. I’m sure
there’s turnabout too – hmmm what does Sharon Matten have in her cart
today? What is she making for
Shabbat this week…and why does she, a pastry chef, have a cake
mix in her grocery cart???!! FROZEN
PIZZA?? Maccaroni & Cheese MIX???
You mean she doesn’t make everything from scratch??? You mean Sharon Matten is a mortal human
just like the rest of us?? Shocking!!
Anyway, I really do get some of my best recipe ideas from
friends while grocery cart snooping. I
was recently in Romanian Kosher buying some awesome meat products when I ran
into my dear friend and neighbor Shoshi.
As usual I checked out her shopping cart and saw some pretty fabulous
looking, thin steaks. “So Shoshi, what
do you do with those steaks?” I asked.
“Oh my goodness,” she answered. “My family loves these. My daughter has a great recipe for them and
it’s super easy.” Well, she had me at
“family loves these”, and ”super easy” clinched the deal!! I had her text the recipe to me, and tried it
out for one of our Friday night Shabbat meals.
Basically, you sauté thinly sliced onions and mushrooms, and place them
on the bottom of a pan. Then you brown the steaks, place them on top of the onions
and mushrooms, cover them with Mikee’s sesame teriyaki sauce and bake for a
while. Super easy! I was so happy with how mine turned out I even
took a picture and texted it to Shoshi!
The steaks were good, but kind of salty from the sauce and I probably
should have baked them for a little less time.
The family liked the basic idea of the recipe, and they loved the
sautéd mushrooms, but I knew I was going to have to try again. I do think the recipe was fine – it was
probably my execution that was off.
A few weeks later I bought another thicker piece of
roast. I followed the same basic recipe
that I did for the steaks and used a different type of teriyaki sauce and less
of it. The result was way better,
and Dear Son suggested making the meat with the mushrooms and onions on
top. I stored that one away for later
use.
So, this week I was in the grocery Shabbat 5 hours before
Shabbat store trying to figure out what to make for. Have you noticed that chicken has gotten
super expensive? What’s up with
that? What are they feeding those
chickens – gourmet chicken feed? Are
the chickens living in poultry penthouses?
In any event the only chicken that was budgetary friendly was boneless,
skinless chicken breasts. I bought two
packages and on impulse decided to try to make the cutlets using the sautéd
onion, mushroom and teriyaki method that Shoshi had recommended for the
steaks. Since I’ve become a GFE (gluten
free eater) I decided to try to make them gluten-free, and bought some
gluten-free teriyaki sauce too.
 |
| Gorgeous, aromatic, delicious! |
Once home, I thinly sliced some wonderful sweet onions and
sautéd them in some olive oil with some crushed garlic. Once they were caramelized I added a pound of
thinly sliced crimini/baby portabella mushrooms and a pound of thinly sliced
small/medium sized white mushrooms, sautéd them until all the liquid was
absorbed, and transferred them to another container to use later. I then removed the tenders from the chicken
(I made chicken fingers from those later), coated the chicken pieces in corn
starch, and browned them in the same skillet I had made the onions and
mushrooms in. Although I normally cut
chicken cutlets in half to make two thin cutlets I didn’t this time. I was
afraid that if the cutlets were too thin they would dry out and taste like
salty sawdust. I made the cutlets in
batches and set them on a foil lined, greased baking sheet as they finished
browning. Once they were all done I
spooned the reserved onions and mushrooms over the chicken (taking into account
Dear Son’s suggestion), drizzled a cup
of GFE teriyaki sauce over the onions and mushrooms, and baked the whole thing
for 30 minutes. The chicken was fast to
make…not quite as fast as the steaks were due to the time it took to brown all
the cutlets, but still pretty speedy (it had to be – I didn’t leave myself all
that much time!).
Gorgeous, aromatic, delicious! The cutlets were moist, flavorful, and
covered with teriyaki infused mushrooms….mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! The decision to leave the cutlets thicker was
a good one. They were fabulous for Shabbat lunch the next day as the cutlets
had even more time to absorb the melded flavors. Although most of us loved the Mushroom
and Teriyaki Chicken a small number of the more unadventurous Shabbat
guests still would have liked a little less teriyaki sauce on the chicken. If you are one of those ( ;-) ) you could
easily add half the teriyaki sauce and the recipe would still be great.
Happy for our Shabbat guests, but sad for me there weren’t a
lot of leftovers for me to eat during the week.
I guess I should really be happy that the recipe was a
success! Happy but hungry!!! I suppose with the weather being arctic here
in Chicago I’ll be able to take some time to come up with some warm,
comforting, hearty, winter recipes to sate my hunger and share with you!
Stay warm and Happy 2014!!
Mushroom
and Teriyaki Chicken
(recipe
can be halved…but why would you want to?!)
12 boneless
skinless chicken cutlets, tenders removed
1 cup corn
starch
3
tablespoons canola oil
4 medium
sweet onions, halved and very thinly sliced
2 cloves
garlic, crushed (I used 2 frozen garlic cubes)
1 pound
crimini/baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 pound
white small/medium mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup
teriyaki sauce (can use ½ cup for a milder flavor)
¼ cup canola
oil for browning, plus additional oil if necessary
Nonstick
vegetable spray
Line a large
baking sheet with foil. Spray with
nonstick vegetable spray. Set
aside.
Preheat oven
to 350° F.
Heat the
canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions and garlic to the oil and sauté
until the onions are caramelized. Add
the sliced mushrooms and sauté until nearly all the liquid is absorbed. Transfer the mushrooms and onions to another
container. Set aside.
Place corn
starch in a large bowl or dish. Coat the
chicken cutlets in the starch, shaking off excess. Set aside.
Heat the remaining ¼ cup of canola oil in the skillet. Place several cutlets in the hot oil and cook
until browned, but not cooked through, on each side. Place the browned cutlets on the prepared
baking sheet. Repeat with remaining
cutlets.
Evenly cover
the browned chicken cutlets with the onion and mushrooms. Drizzle teriyaki sauce over the chicken. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes until the
cutlets are cooked through. Serve warm.
Note: To
make this chicken gluten free use gluten free teriyaki sauce. This recipe can be made for Passover as well
substituting potato starch for the corn starch.
Sauté the thinly sliced onions...
Don't forget the crushed garlic!
Slice the mushrooms...
That's a LOT of mushrooms!!
Sauté onions until caramelized...
Add the mushrooms and sauté until nearly all
the liquid is nearly all absorbed...
Get the corn starch ready and dredge the chicken
in the starch...
Heat the rest of the oil in the skillet...
Brown the chicken on both sides...
So pretty! Can't wait for the mushrooms!!!
Top the cutlets with the onions & mushrooms,
then drizzle with the teriyaki sauce...
Bake for 30 minutes....
Gorgeous, aromatic, delicious!
Here is the beef I made...
Thanks Shoshi!!!
Kosher Everyday
is dedicated to the memory of my father
Dr. Theodore
Saltzberg - Tuvia Ben Nachum Z”L
May his memory
be for a blessing - Yihi zichro baruch.
aish.com,
Mishpacha Magazine’s Kosher Inspired Magazine,
The
Chicago Tribune Syndication,
or on Facebook at Edible Experience by Sharon
These
recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon Matten -Edible
Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher Everyday recipes are for
your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted without express permission
from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!
