Recipe: Chicken Marengo

I made Chicken Marengo years ago… and unfortunately lost the recipe… when my son was a young, money was scarce and I was always on the lookout for an inexpensive meal that was hearty that would feed us for at least two meals... we loved leftovers.

I distinctly remember finding the recipe in a woman’s magazine and my husband trying the recipe. Yes... you read that right... my husband was an excellent cook... and loved to try new recipes... we loved to cook together in the kitchen.

The recipe used chicken legs and thighs… the recipe I have today uses boneless skinless chicken breasts.

I made it periodically from memory through the years… changing the recipe from chicken legs to boneless breasts… since I wanted to reduce the fat content.

Another change I made was… originally I used a cup of chicken broth and a cup dry white wine… recently I came across a recipe that uses chicken bouillon cubes instead of broth and increases the wine… I tried it and liked it better… so this recipe uses chicken bouillon cubes.

History

History of this dish dates back to Napoleon … it is said that after the Battle of Marengo, he demanded a meal… his chef had little to choose from for ingredients and invented this dish from what he had available… it is also noted that the original dish had crayfish included also… numerous variations, like this one, emerged over the years.

TIPS

A word of caution about bouillon cubes.. most contain a small amount of MSG… so if you are MSG sensitive… you can cut back on the wine and use chicken broth instead… I would cut the amount of wine in half and replace the half with chicken broth.

I used thin boneless chicken breasts cutlets… I figure 2 good sized cutlets per person. This recipe makes enough sauce for 8 cutlets (4 servings). You can also make this with thicker chicken breasts.

I like to chop the onion and garlic together in my mini chopper, it gets it finely chopped and well mixed.

For the dry white wine, I used a Sauvignon Blanc.

I like to serve this with noodles, although I also make it with penne.

Some recipes add a bit of cognac at the end… I do not… it just isn’t in the recipe I’m used to making.

This is a perfect a special meal for a weeknight… it cooks fast and looks like you slaved in the kitchen when you didn’t.

I hope you try this!







Recipe: Chicken Marengo

All you need:

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups dry white wine
2 cans (14.5 oz each) Hunts Petite Diced Tomatoes
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 teaspoons thyme
16 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

All you need to do:

In a flat bowl or plate, mix the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Dredge the chicken in the flour.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil.

Brown the chicken breasts over medium heat. Remove to a plate.

Add the onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft, stirring frequently so they don’t brown.

Add the wine and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add the tomatoes, bouillon cubes and thyme, mix well.

Add the chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and simmer with the lid on the skillet for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms have cooked.

Remove to a serving plate and sprinkle chopped fresh parsley over the top.

Serve with hot buttered noodles.