Chicken for Everyone
I had some friends over for dinner last night. I had to work and then one of the guests was coming home with me, so I made something pretty simple that I had made before: crostini with white beans and tomatoes, chicken breasts braised in white wine, green beans, and s'mores for dessert (that way I didn't have to make dessert at all).
I'm sort of proud of getting everything on the table at once (and fast) last night, so I have to share how I did it. I sliced the bread and put the crostini in the oven (350 degrees) to toast right when I got home. Meanwhile I dredged the chicken breasts in seasoned flour and just browned them on both sides in the oven-safe skillet. Then I added equal parts broth and white wine to the skillet, covered it and, after removing the crostini, stuck it in the oven for half an hour.
While that was braising, I put together the crostini topping: a drained, rinsed can of white beans, two chopped tomatoes, about 10 large chiffonaded basil leaves, salt, pepper, a minced garlic clove and olive oil. Topped the crostini with the mixture and drizzled more olive oil over the whole thing. During the last few minutes of the chicken's cooking time, I boiled some whole green beans, then drained them. Took the chicken out of the oven, cut it in fat slices, piled them up on a platter and grated Parmesan over the top.
When we were done with dinner, I got out the sterno and everyone made their own s'mores. I used some dark chocolate bars that were a little thicker than Hershey's, which was a mistake (but not one that ruined the s'mores). The chocolate just didn't melt all the way from the heat of the marshmallows.