Tonight, Unexpected Dinner for 8 Sans Grocery Run

I pulled off some pretty decent grub. This was especially impressive considering the standard first day of school drama and a design meeting an hour away. I ended up cooking for my home crew of 4 and our lovely neighbors, an additional 4, without a grocery store run. Their power was out in their house and it's ninety-something degrees out. I had to help the best I know how... with food at my house. This was the plan: Mediterranean roasted chicken breast, broccoli with garlic Parmesan sauce, and roasted potatoes with parsley. How it happened sounds much less glamorous: I had 4 big chicken breasts in the freezer (stocked from a recent Costco run), a chunk of parm, some decent frozen broccoli, a bag of red potatoes that were a day from sprouting legs and walking away, and an herb garden.

 Here's exactly how, if you want to try.

1. Thaw chicken

To thaw meats or fish quickly and safely, stick them in a large bowl of cold water in the kitchen sink under the faucet. Then leave the cool water on, just a little. The tiny current the stream creates will thaw almost any chunk of meat in a safe 45 minutes or less.

 while that's working

 2. Get the potatoes going
Heat oven to 450ºf. Peel and cut taters into sort-of uniform 1/2" dice. Toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper. Spread the potatoes into a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes. If they're cooked through, but not golden, crank up the broiler to high and let them brown for a minute or two. Stay close and keep an eye on the broiler, seriously. Take out the potatoes and set aside.

lower oven temp to 400ºf

 3. Cook chicken
Remove the chicken from the water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub them down with a bit of olive oil and some Mediterranean seasoning. Stick them on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until they reach an internal temp of 165º.
I don't eat chicken or red meat, so this is The Way to tell if it's done or not. Cooking to this temp pretty much nixes the possibility of catching poultry-borne bugs like salmonella... especially when we're talking about freezing and thawing. Worry not, that olive oil rub down will keep the meat moist.

while the chicken is cooking

 4. Make Parmesan sauce
Melt 3 tbsp unsalted butter in a smallish saucepan over medium low heat. Add a finely chopped clove of garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Wisk in 2 tbsp all purpose flour, simmer and wisk for about 2 minutes until there are no clumps and it looks smooth. Add about 1/2 cup milk, a fat pinch of salt and some pepper, wisk some more and cook until it starts to bubble. Wisk in about 1/3 cup finely grated parm. Continue wisking until parm is melted. If sauce seems to thick, just add a splash of milk. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if need be. Turn heat down as low as possible and cover. Wisk occasionally until you're ready to serve. If it's getting too thick add another splash of milk.
I happened to have a tiny bit of provelone in the fridge, which went in the sauce too. If can easily add or substitute other cheese, whatever floats your (and your picky eater's) boat. It also helps to use a mini-wisk.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven, transfer it to a serving plate and cover with foil. 

5. Heat broccoli

Use a saucepan, with about 1/2" of water. Heat over medium high on the stove until just tender but still firm. Remove broccoli with a slotted spoon and transfer to a serving bowl and cover.

Please, please do not overcook the frozen broccoli. It turns into public school cafeteria slop which would be unsuitable for the kick ass parm sauce you just made. Of course if you wanted to be fancy, you would use fresh broccoli. But hey, my day just wasn't working out like that.


6. Finish potatoes
Put the potatoes back in the oven to warm up for serving. Don't turn the oven on. The heat from all of that roasting will be plenty to heat them through. When nice and warm, remove and transfer to a serving bowl. Slap on at least a tablespoon of unsalted butter, more salt and pepper to taste, and a small handful of finely chopped parsley. Toss to coat.

Top your broccoli with the warm parm sauce. Serve your hot, balanced, home-cooked meal and eat.

I think tomorrow I'll make empanadas with the leftover chicken.