Stupid Sopranos & HBO

You are not worthy of my delicious dinner I made for Sopranos Sunday! I won't say what happens, I am just really disappointed in how it all ends. I need closure people!
Anyway, dinner was awesome. We had homemade rosemary foccacia bread with Bonefish Grill Dipping Pesto. I made a normal garden salad. For our main dish we had Braised Chicken with Tomato, Prosciutto & Zinfandel served on top Garlic Mashed Potatoes. After all that cooking, we bought a turtle pie.

Braised Chicken with Tomatoes, Prosciutto & Zinfandel
Ingredients
1⁄2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 3⁄4 cup hot water until softened, drained, liquid reserved and mushrooms chopped
1 chicken, about 3 1⁄2 lb., cut into 8 serving pieces
Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
3 oz. prosciutto, minced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. minced fresh sage
1⁄2 cup Zinfandel
1 can (14 1⁄2 oz.) plum tomatoes with juice,
pureed in a blender
1 1⁄2 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Strain the mushroom liquid through dampened cheesecloth into a bowl. Set aside.

Rinse the chicken pieces with cold water, pat dry with paper towels, and season with salt and pepper.

Place a Dutch oven or large fry pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is almost smoking, add the chicken, skin side down, in one layer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until browned, about 8 minutes, then turn and brown on the other side, about 8 minutes more. Transfer to a platter and pour off all but 1 Tbs. of the fat.

Return the pan to medium-low heat and add the prosciutto. Cook, stirring, until the prosciutto crisps, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and sage and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer briefly, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. Add the tomatoes and the porcini and their liquid. Bring to a simmer, adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add a little water if the sauce is too dry.

Return the chicken to the pan, cover and simmer gently, turning the pieces once in the sauce, until tender, about 15 minutes. If the sauce is thin, increase the heat to high and simmer until thickened. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with the parsley. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

* I used chicken broth in place of water to give it better flavor*

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

About 8 potatoes

1/2 & 1/2

butter

garlic powder

chives

Peel & boil the potatoes. Drain & place in a mixer safe bowl.

Add about 2 Tbsp butter, a few dashes of garlic & some 1/2 & 1/2. Start mixing, keep adding the 1/2 & 1/2 until its the consistency you want it to be. Mix in chives by hand. Add more garlic if you want to.

Bonefish Grill's Pesto Dipping Oil
Ingredients:
1 cup basil leaves

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

6 Kalamata olives

1/4 cup olive oil

Additional olive oil and bread for serving

Instructions:

1. Using a food processor, combine the basil, cheese, pine nuts, garlic, salt and olives. Process until ingredients form a paste. Slowly add olive oil.

2. To serve, place a dime-sized portion of pesto paste on plate. Top generously with olive oil to create dipping consistency. Serve with your favorite bread.

We served it with Roman Focaccia Bread

Ingredients

2 pk Fast Rising Dry Yeast*

2 cups tepid water (about 90F)

2 Tbsp Sugar

4 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp salt

5 1/2 cups Unbleached white flour

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup olive oil for topping

1 Tbsp Rosemary

1 Tbsp Kosher Salt

Directions

Dissolve the yeast in the tepid water. Add the sugar, olive oil, oil, and salt. Mix in 3 c of the flour and whip until the dough begins to leave the sides of the mixing bowl, about ten minutes.

Mix in the remaining flour by hand or with a dough hook and knead the dough until it is smooth. Allow the dough to rise twice, right in the bowl, and punch down after each rising. (about an hour for each rise)

Shape your loaf on a cooking sheet, you can make two I just made one. Allow to rise for about 30 mins.

Brush with crushed garlic & olive oil mixture. Sprinkle with Rosemary & salt.

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.

And just to give a little props to my helper last night.

He does such a good job :-)