Chicken, Mushrooms and Wild Rice
This has quickly become one of my favorite meals, so I thought I'd share the recipe.
- 2 cups Wild Rice
- 2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast cut up into bite size pieces (3 if the breasts are small)
- 2 Shallots, diced (or one small onion if you don't have shallots)
- 250ml heavy cream (1/2 pint)
- 10-15 crimini mushrooms, sliced (or white mushrooms if you don't have criminis)
- 4 tablespoons butter, separated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 elbows (100ml) of white wine
- Salt
- Pepper
- Coriander
- Tony Chachere's Cajun Spice Mix - to taste
Cook the wild rice per instructions*, draining excess water if needed.
Season the chicken breasts with the salt, pepper and coriander.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the chicken, cover and cook until the pieces are seared on the outside, about 3 minutes. Stir, turning the chicken over, cover and cook for 3 more minutes.
Move the chicken to the edge of the skillet, creating a space in the center and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the center, then add the diced shallots and minced garlic.
Cook until the shallots soften and turn translucent, about 2 minutes, then move those to the edges as well, clearing a space in the center of the skillet.
Add the other 2 tablespoons of butter and melt, then add the mushroom pieces to the center. Coat those mushrooms in the butter and juices, cover and let the mushrooms soften and wilt, about 2 minutes.
Stir everything together, add the two elbows of white wine (by elbow, I mean tilt your elbow up quickly and back down, pouring some white out), continue slowly stirring for two minutes. Then reduce heat to medium-low and let it all cook together about another minute.
Stir in the heavy cream, add the Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning (just a few dashes, unless you want it spicy) and cook on medium-low heat for about 3-5 minutes.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, then mix the entire contents of the skillet into the Wild Rice, stir together and serve.
* - Wild Rice instructions.
Thoroughly rinse the two cups of wild rice in a fine sieve. Add to a large pot with a tight lid, along with 6 cups of water (yes, 6) and salt to taste.
Bring the pot to a boil and let it boil until the water is almost gone and you have to stir to keep the rice from burning, this might take 20-35 minutes, depending on a lot of factors, but just keep stirring when the water level is low.
As soon as the water level is low enough, turn off heat, cover the pot with two paper towels, put the lid on tightly and hold the lid on for 30 seconds, then let sit with lid on for at least 10 minutes (15 is better).
Fluff rice with fork, and, if there is still standing water because you chickened out and turned the heat off too soon, drain the water. :)
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