Sautéed Chicken with Mushroom Risotto and Asparagus

Next up, we’ve got a sautéed chicken airline breast (a boneless breast, skin on, with the drumette still attached), some mushroom risotto, sautéed asparagus, and pan reduction sauce. With so many different parts, this recipe is going to get fairly in depth. In fact, this dish was actually my entry into a cooking contest recently, and although I didn’t win, it came out pretty great.

My point is, it’s pretty labor intensive and you’ll use a lot of pots and pans to make it happen. Its individual components are not especially difficult on their own, it’s just the combination of them and timing it all out that can be tricky. In fact, I’m going to be laying this one out a little differently than normal. Instead of trying to fit all the parts together for you, I’m going to list the preparation methods for each component in their own separate sections. That way you can coordinate it however you see fit, since my order of operations may or may not have been ideal for most. Do feel free to leave your feedback regarding this layout – let me know what works and what doesn’t.

It might also help to have another cook in the kitchen to assist on this recipe – if no one is available, you may want to swap the risotto for mashed potatoes, depending on how adventurous you’re feeling. Included below will be tutorials for clarified butter and pan reduction sauce, both of which are necessary components of this dish. So if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, this is one dish that’s sure to impress.

Veal Loin Chops with Tarragon and White Wine Reduction Sauce

Veal is one of those rich, delicious delicacies that PETA would have you believe is morally reprehensible to consume. And you know what? Maybe it is, but I’ll be damned if that’s going to stop me. So with some thick and succulent veal loin chops on hand, I decided to go with a relatively simple recipe that produces some pretty complex and interesting flavors, mostly due to the use of tarragon. On the side, I steamed some broccoli and made a simple risotto to round out this delicious gourmet meal. The risotto recipe is the same one I used for my seafood risotto, and you can make whichever sides you like, so I’ll only be detailing the process for cooking the veal below.

Shrimp and Lobster Risotto

If there's one thing I am sure of in life these days, it's the fact that I'm making good use of the education I've been receiving at Le Cordon Bleu for the past 2 weeks. After witnessing a demonstration in class on how to make perfect risotto, I knew it was something I'd have to try on my own time. Not only had I never tried making risotto myself, but I was already quite fond of risotto's particular texture and creaminess.

Of course, this wouldn't be Screw Your Diet if I didn't add some extra flair to the dish. To that end, I added half a pound of grilled shrimp, lobster tail, and broccoli into the mix. The result was as delicious and rich as you might expect. One thing to note, however, is that exact measurement were not used, so many of them will be approximate measurements rather than being more precise. Savory cooking is mostly done "to taste", so the exact proportions for spices and the like will pretty much be left to your own discretion.