Cooking 101: How Not to Burn the Microwave: Chicken with Mirepoix Ragout

Hello everybody! How are you? Good I hope. I just started this exercise routine and I hope that I will stick to it: I jog/walk for four miles M W F. It's been really good to jog, especially since I'm not in school anymore, where all of my exercise came from walking everywhere. I also took my NCLEX for the second time today. I didn't really feel good about it...the computer logged me off at 75 questions, and last time it was 77. I'm expecting to fail but I will keep my hopes up.

Anyway...you came here for the food! I made this dish because we have celery and carrots sitting in the fridge. I went to a cooking website using those ingredients as the search terms and came up with chicken with mirepoix ragout. (It's from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Braised-Chicken-Breasts-in-Tasty-Mirepoix-Ragout if you want to see the original recipe). It's chicken that has been floured, browned in a pan, and cooked with veggies and a wine sauce. I tried to use crumbs instead of flour and attempted to get rid of these Triscuits that I don' t want anymore. I figured it would be good because the crackers are flavorful and whole-grain. I also made mashed potatoes to go along with this.

Mashed potatoes

5 large potatoes
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Chicken with mirepoix ragout

1 chicken breast, sliced
15 Triscuit crackers, crushed
1/2 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 sprigs thyme
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For the mashed potatoes:

1. Cut your potatoes into uniform cubes. Throw them into a pot, cover with water, and boil. The potatoes are done when you can easily spear one with a fork (about 15 minutes maybe?)

2. Strain and put your potatoes back in the pot. Mash your potatoes...I usually use the back of a rice paddle, because that's the best tool I have. Then, add your milk (or you could do cream), and add your seasonings (butter would be great too).

Don't do what I tried. I thought I could save time by blending the potatoes. I've never tried this before, and I will never do it again, because it results in gooey stuff. Turns out the blades are turning too fast, it releases the starches in the potato cells and ruins it. Poo.

For the chicken and ragout:

1. Optional: Place your crushed crackers, or flour in a dish. Slice your chicken and dip in the crumbs/flour until fully coated. Heat some oil in a pan, and cook the chicken over high or medium-high heat. After a few minutes, check to see if the bottoms of the meat is browned. Go for a dark golden brown. Flip and cook for a few more minutes.

So, I say that this part is optional because while the chicken was crispy and tasted good, it didn't stay crispy after you make the ragout. Next time, I'd just cook the chicken as it is.

2. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add your onions (and more oil if you need it) and cook until nicely browned. This will take about 2 minutes, and you should stir every so often.

3. Add the celery and carrots. Cook for a few minutes.

4. Add the wine, chicken stock, and seasonings. Simmer the sauce until it was reduced to half. This didn't make a lot of sauce...so if you want a lot, add more stock and wine. I only used 3/4 cup of stock because that's what I had on hand.