Onion-Smothered Chicken and Country-Style Mashed Potatoes

I thought I'd do a bit of a step-by-step process with the pictures on this recipe for Onion-Smothered Chicken. It's a dish that originally called for skin-on chicken leg quarters and 1/4 cup of olive oil. By substituting boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and just 2 tablespoons of oil, I think this can now be considered something of a low-fat main dish. It's shown here with Country-Style Mashed Potatoes with similar seasoning as the chicken.


Onion-Smothered Chicken

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut in half crosswise
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup white wine
3 bay leaves
3/4 tablespoon grated gingerroot
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

Optional:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup additional white wine


Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the chicken pieces.








Cook, turning frequently, until browned on all sides.









Increase the heat to high. Add onions, wine, bay leaves, gingerroot, oregano, black pepper, thyme and rosemary; mix well. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes or until meat thermometer stuck into thickest piece of meat reads 180° F. Discard bay leaves.

For low-fat version, the recipe is complete at this point. Removed chicken and onions to serving platter with slotted spoon.

If a little extra fat is not an issue, you may thicken the sauce as follows:

In small saucepan, melt butter, then stir in flour. Cook over medium heat for 1 minute to form a roux. Remove from heat. Remove chicken from pan to serving platter. Add 1/2 cup wine to pan and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a gentle boil. Add roux to simmering liquid, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened. Spoon over chicken in serving dish.

Serves 4 to 6.



Country-Style Potatoes

These potatoes call for unpeeled potatoes. The skins of the potatoes I used today weren't fresh enough to consume, in my opinion, but I do use mash potatoes with the peels on when I can. They add fiber, vitamins and flavor.

4 pounds baking potatoes, unpeeled
6 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cottage cheese (or sour cream, if preferred)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces; place in medium saucepan.

Peel garlic cloves and place in the pan with the potatoes; cover with water.

Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

While potatoes are cooking, place milk and butter in small saucepan over low heat. Cook and stir until milk is warmed and butter is melted.

Place potatoes and garlic in large bowl.

Mash potatoes with hand masher or electric mixer on low speed just until potatoes are mashed. Beat in warm milk-butter mixture and cottage cheese until mixture is almost smooth.

Blend in parsley, rosemary and thyme. Serve potatoes immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.