Chicken Francese Anniversary Dinner

I’m going out with a bang this week. Normally Fridays are my What I Ate series but I’ve been traveling, and I’m super backlogged. I have a super exciting weekend of food coming up and I’ll kick it off with a big time Friday post! It is a bit delayed but without further ado, I give you my 1st wedding anniversary dinner! Ta-da!

We went to Portland for the weekend and ate, walked around, shopped, checked out some lighthouses, and swam in the hotel pool (check out how adorable it is!). When we got home I decided to make our wedding meal for dinner! Of course we had to eat our frozen slice of wedding cake too!

I made chicken francese, blue cheese mashed potatoes, and green beans. It turned out great!
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francaise

I drew the line at making squash veggie rings like the wedding venue had.

 

Chicken Francese

(adapted from Epicurious) 

Ingredients:

4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 large eggs, whisked
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (plus sliced lemon for garnish)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound chicken with flat side of a meat pounder (or with a rolling pin, canned goods, or cast iron skillet) until 1/4 inch thick.
Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.
While oil is heating, stir together flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow bowl.
Dredge chicken, in flour mixture, shaking off excess
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese
then dredge in the eggs in another shallow bowl
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese
When oil is hot, fry, turning over once, until golden brown and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese
Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and keep warm in the oven (at 200-degrees). Fry remaining chicken in same manner.
Pour off and discard oil, then wipe skillet clean and heat butter over low until foam subsides. Add wine, broth, and lemon juice and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 6 minutes. (Do you know the trick of squeezing lemons upside down so you don’t drop any seeds in?)
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese
Stir in parsley and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and top with lemon slices.

It was good. I added some more lemon juice before serving because it got too sweet for me. I also had way too much parsley so I chopped it all and froze the leftovers in ice cube trays with a splash of water. Next time I need parsley I have small servings in the freezer! I also zested some lemon into the sauce too.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese

I had every intention of doing half mashed potatoes/half cauliflower but I was zipping around to get everything done at the same time and I totally forgot.  I mixed in some butter, milk, and blue cheese dressing. The blue cheese flavor was light but great. I think the salad dressing was a good use when I didn’t have other plans for blue cheese before jetting away on a work trip.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese

Now, the cake. Our frozen slice ‘o cake wasn’t nearly as gross as I thought it would be. I never eat wedding cake at weddings, but we haaaad to have one. I actually loved our wedding cake (when I ate it the next day). The frozen one moved with us and everything. We each ate a bite or two and then somebody, whose name starts with J, ate the rest of the piece of cake later too.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese
It was a great celebration and we have lots to celebrate. Good thing I have a year to come up with the next themed anniversary dinner!
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Francese

Portland Pie Pizza

The vacation of eating continues! Seriously, Portland ME is a foodie mecca (donuts & duckfat fries). I really hoped we’d make it to Portland Pie and it was everything I dreamed of. I buy their refrigerated pizza dough at the grocery store and love it. It is the best, hands down. It worked out to be a great dinner option for the last night we were in town.
The Three Bite Rule - Portland Pie

I was really torn as to what I was in the mood for. Their fall specials looked amazing. I might need to recreate one of their fall dishes. There was a mustard/sauerkraut/bratwurst/pumpkin ale pizza that sounded amazing. I also was intrigued by a maple balsamic dressing for salad.

We got an app (even though Mr. J was all about the pumpkin cheesecake for dessert). I knew after all our eating we could not eat an app, pizza, and dessert. Way. too. much.

We chose the sweet potato smoked cheddar dip with rosemary biscotti.
The Three Bite Rule - Portland Pie

They were working the kinks out on this one. We actually sent it back to be reheated. The breadbowl it was in was nicely warmed, the cheddar on top of the dip was melted, but the dip was cold. It wasn’t just “not piping hot” but it was cold. We neverrr send stuff back but this was meant to be warm. It then took forever. Other tables got their salads, drink refills, salads cleared and pizza served while we waited.

The kitchen wasn’t sure the best way to reheat it while maintaining the dip. I wanted to cancel it but our server was a bit MIA. She returned telling us it would be ready when the pizza was and the kitchen made a new app. I really would have just cancelled it or they could have offered to take it off the bill. Instead they offered us dessert. That made Mr. J one happy guy.

Our server thought it would be ready when the pizza was so we asked for whatever was ready to come out. I didn’t want the pizza sitting to stay warm. I’m not sure it was worth all the hype for all of this process, but it was good. Smoked gouda would have been better.

We ordered 2 pizzas so there’d be some leftovers to take home for the next day. We got one Bar Harbor which was super exciting now that Mr. J eats scallops! Woohoo! It was scallops, bacon, mozzarella with alfredo sauce. It was amazing. The scallops were cooked nicely and every bite was flavorful. The topping to crust ratio was spot on.
The Three Bite Rule - Portland Pie

The other pizza we got was called Dead River. It was red sauce and had spinach, red peppers, ricotta, and we swapped out hamburger for sausage. It is finished with garlic and crushed red pepper. Some bites definitely have a kick to them. I liked this one a lot and it was a great contrast to the sweet & smokey scallop pizza.
The Three Bite Rule - Portland Pie

One of my favorite things that happened was just too funny. For some reason our server didn’t seem sure that we were together. She packed the dessert to go as separate containers and asked if we each wanted some of each pizza packed up. I was so amused since we were celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary weekend!

I love their menu. I wish there was a Portland Pie near me! I’d be happy to drink the delicious local-to-Maine brews and dine on their expansive menu if they wanted to come further south!
The Three Bite Rule - Portland Pie

Chicken Parmesan Pizza

Seems like a good day for pizza, right? When isn’t a good time for an easy-peasy-pizza?! I whipped up a super simple one I wanted to share despite how little cooking I actually did. Seems appropriate for a Monday. This will not overload your brain.

I was shooting for a super easy chicken Parmesan calzone but my dough was being difficult. I mean holes, bubbles, sticky, and crazy elastic-y even after getting to room temp. I’ve never had such a hard time. I remembered seeing a pizza joint on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives that puts cornmeal into the dough. I wasn’t sure it went, but I jumped on it.

Success! It was nutty and crispy. I usually use Portland Pie Company’s dough and I’m obsessed. I was improvising after grabbing some at a different grocery store. Yikes. It was touch & go for a few minutes there.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parm Pizza

Ingredients:

4 chicken fingers, cooked & chopped (frozen or bread your own)
1 ball pizza dough
1 cup tomato sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
3 tbs Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic, chopped

Directions:

Spread pizza dough out and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parm Pizza
When dough is starting to crisp and cook through, take it out and top with sauce, spices, and garlic.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parm Pizza
Spread shredded mozzarella all over then top with chicken.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parm Pizza
Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until cheese is melted and crust is crisp.
Remove from the oven and spread mozzarella slices over the top. Return it to the oven and allow the cheese to melt with the oven off.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Parm Pizza

Fall Listing

I’m back in California (for the 4th time this year…) so I wanted to put this out to you to comment one while I’m gone. I fear my fall is getting gobbled up (get it? haha!) life is just always crazy busy, isn’t it? I have a few fall favorites I hope to make before winter when I’ll probably come up with a new list. I’m considering my fall/self imposed deadline to be pre-Thanksgiving. I made a list last fall but want to complete one this time!

This fall I’ll be whipping up:

1) Pumpkin coffee cake or pumpkin pull apart bread, or pumpkin granola etc. Regular pumpkin bread or muffins doesn’t count. <check it out here!>

2) Something fun in the crock pot. By fun, I mean we’ll eat it at least 4 times so we’d better like it! <check it out here!>

3) A cranberry bevvie (I put this on last year’s fall list and overlooked it) <check it out here!>

4) Soup of some sort.

5) A pasta dish that isn’t our “we-don’t-have-anything-for-dinner” option. <check it out here!>

 

Any suggestions to help me complete any of these bad boys?