Smothered Chicken
My mom’s birthday was Monday, so I planned on making her favorite dish – smothered chicken. The recipe is a knock-off we came up with a few years ago from a chicken dish she ordered at Applebee’s. We changed a few things and came up with our own delicious version.
The chicken breast needs to be even and thin (about a 1/2 inch), so I pounded the chicken out, which also tenderized the meat a little. I seasoned the chicken with season-all, which has salt in it so I usually skip adding more salt, and then put it in a skillet over low heat. Low heat is the key to keeping the chicken moist. The pan needs to be hot, but then lower the heat so the chicken cooks slowly. It took about 12 minutes on each side to cook through.
While the chicken was cooking, I added sliced onions and pepper to another skillet. I also cooked these over low heat for about 10 minutes until they were soft. I then seasoned them with a little salt and added honey. In another skillet, I cooked sliced mushrooms with butter until they were browned and then seasoned them with salt and garlic powder.
Once the chicken was cooked through, I topped it with the cooked vegetables and then with shredded cheese and covered it until the cheese melted.
It seems like a lot of different pans going on, but by cooking everything separately, it created a unique flavor combination that isn’t quite the same if everything was cooked in one pan. The chicken was very moist, the onions and peppers were sweet, the mushrooms were spicy, and the cheese added a rich flavor to everything. Together, it create a delicious dish. I think my mom was pretty happy with her birthday dinner.