MENU DESCRIPTION: “Grilled chicken breast with Portobello mushrooms,smoked mozzarella and demi glace, with a spinach orzo pasta.”
Fire up the grill for this take on one of Romano’s most popular entrees. After you grill a couple of portobello mushroom caps, slice them thinly at an extreme angle to make wide slices that fit perfectly on top of grilled chicken breasts that have been rubbed with stone ground mustard (the kind with the whole mustard seeds in it). Romano’s delicious demi glace is made from reduced veal stock, but a nice substitute can be made from a combination of canned beef broth and chicken broth. With plenty of garlic, rosemary and thyme in there, you’ll have sauce that will get everyone in the house drooling as it simmers on the stove. The fresh julienned spinach tossed into the orzo pasta just before it’s served scores extra points.
MAKES: 4 SERVINGS
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 portobello mushroom caps
- DEMI GLACE
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
ORZO PASTA
- 1 pound orzo pasta
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
- ¾ cup diced red bell pepper (½ pepper)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons butter (½ stick)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups julienned fresh spinach
- 4 skinless chicken breast fillets, halved (or 8 small fillets)
- 8 slices smoked mozzarella cheese
- 8 teaspoons stone ground mustard (such as Inglehoffer)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat your grill to high. Remove the stems from the portobello mushrooms and brush the caps with a coating of olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the underside of each cap, then grill for about 3 minutes per side. Remove the mushroom caps from the grill to cool for about 5 minutes. Slice the mushrooms at an extreme angle with a very sharp knife so that you get very wide slices. You want the knife almost parallel to the cutting surface so that your slices will cover the chicken breast. Take 8 of the biggest slices, cover them, then chop up the leftover mushroom to use in the sauce.
- Prepare the demi glace sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Crush 6 cloves of garlic with the palm of your hand and toss them into the oil along with the chopped mushroom pieces. Sweat the garlic and mushroom (slowly cook without browning) for 10 minutes. Add beef broth and chicken broth, then whisk in cornstarch. Add rosemary, thyme, and black pepper and simmer for 40 minutes, then remove the sauce from heat and cover it.
- Prepare the orzo pasta by boiling it in a large pot of water. You want it al dente, which means it should be slightly tough (we’ll be cooking it more later). That should take about 7 minutes. Drain the pasta.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in a large stockpot or use the same pot you used for cooking the pasta. Add 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and the diced red bell pepper and sauté for 1 minute. Add the drained orzo pasta, 1 cup chicken broth, 4 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Pound the chicken breasts a bit so that they are uniform in thickness. Rub ½ teaspoon stone ground mustard on each side of each chicken piece, then rub each with some oil. Grill the chicken for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. About 2 minutes before the chicken is done, lay a slice of portobello mushroom on each piece. Lay a slice of mozzarella on the mushroom on each breast and finish grilling the chicken. When the cheese is melted, remove the chicken from the grill.
- To serve the dish, stir spinach into orzo and immediately spoon an equal helping onto each of four plates. Arrange two chicken pieces on each of the plates, then spoon the demi glace over the chicken and serve.
