Archives for December 2010

When D and I were dating, we used to love to go to a restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi called Amerigo. It’s still one of our favorite places to eat when we go see friends in that neck of the woods, and we’ve also been to the Amerigo in Nashville a time or two. They serve food that I would classify as rustic Italian, only I’ve never been to Italy and I don’t have any idea if my assessment is accurate or not. Mainly it’s just that I can hear Giada deLaurentiis saying “rustic Italian” in my head, so I’m going with it.

Our favorite thing to order at Amerigo (besides the cheese fritters – OH MY WORD THE CHEESE FRITTERS) is a dish called Chicken Tuscany. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make the brown wine sauce that’s a critical part of the dish, but it’s almost become a joke with us because, well, I don’t really know how to make sauces. I can follow recipes, mind you, and if I’m feeling adventurous in the kitchen I’ll improvise, but I’ve never felt brave enough to take a stab at the brown wine sauce. It’s legendary, after all.

Well. On Thanksgiving I made a stuffed pork loin for dinner, and after I took the meat out of the roasting pan I decided to make some gravy. I used beef stock (I normally just use water when I’m making gravy for something like country fried steak), and the color was so pretty and the flavor was so delicious that it made me wonder if I couldn’t tackle the brown wine sauce after all.

IT FELT SORT OF LIKE I SET A GOAL, Y’ALL.

The weather here turned really cold Sunday, and I decided that Chicken Tuscany sounded absolutely delicious. The only problem? I didn’t have a recipe. And, um, I haven’t eaten Chicken Tuscany in about three years. But other than that I was totally prepared to add it to my suppertime repertoire.

As it turns out, the Internet can be very handy. After a quick Google search and a few clicks, I found the Amerigo recipe online. The person who posted the recipe made a point to say that he/she got it from someone who used to work at Amerigo, so clearly there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the recipe was the real deal. After all, the everything on the Internet is true.

I decided to take a chance and try the recipe, so earlier this week I bought the ingredients. I had most of the seasonings on hand, and even though the recipe looked a little complicated, the ingredients were simple – which always makes me feel better for some reason. If I’m going to be following 18 steps, I’d prefer that those 18 steps involve chicken and not some rare form of elk meat. I’d rather not get in a culinary wrestling match with sea urchin, you know?

Tuesday night I made the marinade for my chicken, and last night I actually made the Chicken Tuscany. I have to tell you in all humility that IT. WAS. AWESOME. And the awesomeness was no thanks to me, by the way – it’s just a great recipe with fresh ingredients, and oh sweet mercy I will be making it again. I may even make it for Christmas dinner – because the colors are beautiful and festive and it’s a great change of pace from our normal pork tenderloin.

(Pretend there’s a picture of the finished dish here.)

(I sort of forgot to do that part.)

(But imagine a nest of angel hair pasta with a browned and crisp chicken breast on top, all topped with a divine brown sauce that has flecks of red and green in it.)

(Now sigh contentedly.)

So given all of that, here’s the recipe. If you like to cook, you’ll have a blast with it.

And just in case you try it, a few suggestions:

1. Chop everything that needs to be chopped ahead of time. Pretend you’re on a cooking show and need for all your ingredients to be in sassy little ramekins. I didn’t think through all the steps before I started, and I ended up stopping and starting a lot. Get all your ingredients measured and set aside and ready to go.

2. You need 2 skillets, 1 medium saucepan and a Dutch oven for this recipe. Or maybe you don’t need a Dutch oven. But that’s what I use to cook noodles. So maybe you just need a big pot. Regardless, you need a saucepan for the first stage of the wine sauce, a skillet for sauteeing all your vegetables and finishing the sauce, a bigger skillet for cooking your chicken – and the aforementioned pasta pot. You’re welcome.

3. I didn’t use Chianti, mainly because my only experience with Chianti has been when I saw Hannibal Lecter talk about it in “Silence of the Lambs.” I just bought a regular red table wine – a brand that I used some last year when I made stew. It worked fine. And here’s a fun fact: I don’t like red wine. At least not to drink it. Apparently my palate is not refined enough to appreciate the taste. And also: who wants a room temperature beverage? NOT I.

Maybe I’d like red wine more if I could drink it over crushed ice like my beloved Diet Coke.

But I digress.

4. I wish I’d used chicken cutlets instead of big ole chicken breasts. I couldn’t get the chicken breasts pounded as thin as I would’ve liked – so next time I think I’ll make a point to buy much thinner cut of meat.

5. Make sure you have big ole loaf of good bread handy. I had a loaf of Tuscan bread from Fresh Market, and it was perfection. D said that he could make a meal out of nothing but the bread and the brown wine sauce. If I’d had time and planned ahead, though, I would’ve served this homemade bread because it’s so easy and unbelievably tasty.

All righty. There you have it. The story of how I finally made Chicken Tuscany. I feel like such a grown-up now.

Have y’all conquered any exciting new culinary territory lately? Run across a great recipe that you’d like to share with the class? Can’t wait to hear. Or read. Or whathaveyou.