Accidental Gourmet: Chicken Piccata, Butter Sherry Pasta, Green Bean in Cream Sauce

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So, every once in awhile I'll come home and I have no idea what to have for dinner.  (Okay, so maybe that's more often than not. =)  And every once in awhile I will whip up something pretty good (if I do say so myself).  Tonight was one of those nights.  And because I started this blog, I thought I'd start sharing these "accidental" gourmet meals =)--which brings me to the first of the series, "Accidental Gourmet".

Chicken Piccata with Seasoned Butter Sherry Pasta and Green Beans in Cream Sauce

So, I decided I wanted chicken for dinner, and the other day I saw a video online about Chicken Piccata.  Apparently, "piccata" just means "pounded" (which I think I already knew).  Basically, you just take a piece of chicken and pound it flat.  Usually, you do this by covering a piece of chicken breast with plastic wrap and pounding it with a meat tenderizer or hammer.  I, however, discovered after defrosting my chicken (I know...frozen chicken...but it's so convenient!!) that it was already soft enough that I could get the same effect just by mashing it with a fork.  I seasoned both sides with a little salt and pepper and then dredged it with some flour (I literally did all this on the cutting board.  Saved me from dirtying another dish).  I cooked this in a skillet on medium heat with some olive oil.  I'm not sure how long it took, but it was pretty quick.  Faster than it takes to boil water.  (I know because I was boiling water on another burner.)

I had some leftover pasta which I thought would go great with the chicken.  So after cooking the chicken I poured a little more oil into the still hot pan (maybe about 1/4 tsp) and added some butter to brown slightly.  Then I added some Sherry and let the alcohol cook off.  I added the pasta to coat.  Then decided to add some garlic salt and Mrs. Dash (don't judge =).  And--voila--a pasta dish.

Now the green beans.  The story behind tonight's creation is that I have been craving green bean casserole (a holiday staple).  I didn't have any this year =(.  So I decided to make a "fakeout" green bean casserole on the fly.  I cooked up some frozen green beans (oh so convenient =) and proceeded to make a beschamel sauce as the base of the cream sauce.  It's easy (especially if you don't mind some lumps =).  First make a roux (fat and flour).  I took a scant Tbsp of butter and melted that in the same skillet (still warm on the stove).  To that I added about a Tbsp of flour and mixed that together.  Then I added some milk.  I think I added maybe about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of milk.  It will start thickening as the roux and the milk combine.  Add more milk if the sauce seems too thick.  It's harder to thicken the sauce if it become too thin so added a little at a time.  For flavor, I used a scant 1/2 tsp of "Better Than Boullion" vegetable stock base (amazing product).  I mixed in the green beans and topped with some crisp french onions and I had my fakeout green bean casserole.  It doesn't taste quite the same (nothing else tastes like cream of mushroom soup), but it was delicious; maybe even better than green bean casserole.  And definitely fancier.  You could serve this at a dinner party.

And that is how you make Chicken Piccata with Seasoned Butter Sherry Pasta and Green Beans in Cream Sauce (aka fakeout Green Bean Casserole)