November 23, 2020
Ingrediencies Needed:
Yukon gold potato's (5)
Zucchini (1)
Garlic clove (3)
Scallions (2 stems)
Italian seasoning (1 TBSP)
Chicken breast (2) 1/2 in thick
Chicken stock concentrate (1 cube, or 1 TSP)
Sour Cream (4 oz)
Dijon mustard (1 TBSP)
Additional Ingrediencies:
Water (2 TBSP)
Milk or 1/2 & 1/2
Butter (2 TBSP)
Oil
Salt
Pepper
STEP ONE
The first starting off with any cooking in my opinion, before you even start is by cleaning your work area. I do this every time before & after I cook any meal. I really can't work in a dirty work station, it just frustrates me. Once your whole work area is clean, you could begin cleaning the vegetables that you will be working with. I had potato's & zucchini. Both of these needed to be cleaned, because really, you never knew who touched this zucchini before you. Use a potato brush to scrub the dirt & germs off the potato's & lightly brush the zucchini as well. Once vegetables are cleaned, dry them before adding to cutting board.
Cut potato's into 1/2 in thick cubes & transfer to a empty pot.
Cut zucchini down the middle in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2 thick half-moons.
Peel & cut end off of two cloves of garlic & finely mince them.
Cut scallions & separate them from white to green color.
This is how I fully prepped my work area. This way, everything is ready for me when I need it & I won't have to do any additional work while something is cooking - risking anything from being burned. Preparation is key to working efficiently.
STEP TWO
Fill the pot of potato's with water & rinse off excess starch. This will make so your potato's after cooking become more fluffy & flavorful. Once water runs clean of the starch from the potato's fill water so water line comes about 1 inch above the potato's. Salt the pot generously & also add that extra whole clove of garlic to the pot as well. Let the water boil with the garlic in the pot. You only need one clove. For some people out there, they really love garlic I know, I do too, but one is all you need or you'll ruin the potato's. (Believe me I've done it)
Turn your burner up to medium-high heat & bring pot of potato's to a boil & cook until tender.
STEP THREE
Heat a medium pan over medium-high heat on your stove. Add a drizzle of oil & let pan get hot ~2 minutes. Add zucchini to frying pan & drizzle with salt & pepper. Cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes. (My picture below doesn't show them to be on a single layer, but I corrected that after I seasoned them)
STEP FOUR
Now it's time to use your chicken breast. Start by drying the chicken breast with paper towels. Having excess water or chicken juice on them would then start steaming & not getting them evenly browned. We don't want that here, that's for another method of cooking.
Season generously with salt, pepper & 1/2 TBSP on both sides. We will use the other 1/2 TBSP on the potato's when their finished.
STEP FIVE
Once zucchini has finish cooking on both sides remove to pan & place on a plat with a double layer of paper towel on the plate. This will absorb excess oil any excess oil on the zucchini, ensuring them that when serving, that they won't be soggy with oil. That makes for an unpleasant texture & frowning faces when tasted.
Time to add the chicken to the same pan that was used for the zucchini. If the pan looks like it need a bit more oil, do so by adding just a bit. Get pan sizzling hot before adding the chicken. This will ensure you get a nice seer on the chicken keeping in all that flavor. Cook chicken on medium-high heat for ~6 minutes per side. If you see that chicken is beginning to brown too fast, turn burner down to medium heat.
STEP SIX
Once chicken has cooked on both sides, set aside on a cutting board & let rest. It's always good to let any protein rest after cooking, because even though you take it off the burner, it's still cooking inside while it's resting.
Oh, by this time, your potato's should just about be ready. To check & make sure if they are ready, all you need to do is poke them with a fork & flake it. If it comes apart easily, then you know it's done. I'll explain what do do with the potato's in STEP SEVEN.
Next is time to make the sauce. Start again by using that same pan used by zucchini & chicken. No need to wash the pans in-between different dishes. Again, if the pan looks like it needs a bit of oil do so by adding just a little bit, however, with this sauce you don't need much.
When pan is hot, add minced up garlic & scallion whites. Cook for only about 30 seconds, just until you can start smelling that great smell of garlic.
Stir in the stock concentrate & 2 TBSP of water & stir around. Let cook about another ~1 minute or so.
Turn off the heat of the burner & add sour cream, Dijon mustard, & 1 TBSP of butter. Stir to mix in all-together.
STEP SEVEN
Mashed potato's time.
Drain most of the water out of the pot. I like to leave about 1 or 2 TBSP of water in the pot to mix into mashing them to give them a more creamy salty taste to them. Start by mashing potato's with a potato masher until mashed. Add in 1 TBSP of butter & a splash or 2 of milk or 1/2 & 1/2. Depending on how you like your potato's. As well as add 1/2 TBSP of that Italian seasoning that we used for the chicken breast. Mash the potato's until your desired texture. I like mine without any lumps, so very smooth. Sorry but I did not get a picture of the potato's after I cooked them, however, that is shown in the next picture.
STEM EIGHT
Plate your food. This recipe serves 2 people. I like to add side dishes to the side of the plate & the protein in the middle of the plate as shown. Add the Dijon mustard sauce to the top of the chicken breast. Now enjoy.
All images shown in this post were taken by me, on my smartphone (Galaxy S8+)