CHICKEN BREASTS FLORENTINE - Petto di Pollo alla Fiorentina

Here is another Italian-American way to serve boneless chicken...on a bed of spinach. This recipe serves two but you can easily double it to serve four. If you don't have vermouth, you can substitute white wine, but vermouth is a fortified wine that is aromatized with herbs and spices and gives the sauce a wonderful flavor. This is the same vermouth that is used in making martinis. Sweet vermouth is used in the Italian drink Negroni, and both are used in the classic American drink, the Manhattan.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

½ cup flour, for dredging
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 T extra-light olive oil or avocado oil 
2 T unsalted butter, divided 

Sauce

1 T unsalted butter
2 large shallots, cut in half and sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
¾ cup dry vermouth
½ cup heavy cream or half-and-half 
2 T chopped Italian parsley, for garnish

Cut each chicken breast in half, lengthwise.
Gently pound chicken between layers of plastic wrap to ¼-inch thickness.

In a shallow bowl, add the flour and season generously with salt and pepper.
Dredge chicken breasts in flour mixture, shaking off excess.
Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet and fry the chicken until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.
Add a splash of the vermouth and cook for another minute.

Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Using the same skillet, add the second tablespoon of butter and sauté the shallots for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Add the remainder of the vermouth and continue to cook and stir for a couple minutes.
Turn heat down to the lowest setting and add the cream or half-and-half and gently heat for one minute.
Return the chicken to the skillet, cover and gently simmer for another 2 minutes.

Spinach
1 T unsalted butter
1 bag (10 oz) baby spinach, rinsed and drained in a colander 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Meanwhile, in another very large skillet, melt the butter and add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and cook while stirring, until lightly wilted. This takes just a few minutes.

Remove spinach with tongs to a warm platter and place the chicken and shallots on top. 
Pour the sauce over and serve.

Serves 2 

PAN-FRIED PORK CHOPS WITH PORT WINE SAUCE

Trim the meat from the bone of each pork chop, called “frenching” for a prettier presentation and save the trimmings for the sauce. You can also have your butcher do this for you. The port wine sauce adds a wonderful flavor to the pork chops.   

2 T extra-light olive oil or avocado oil, divided

Porkchop trimmings

1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 T fresh rosemary leaves
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

½ cup port wine

½ cup beef broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 T unsalted butter
2 bone-in pork chops, 1-inch thick

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
Add the pork chop trimmings and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
Lower the heat and add the shallot and rosemary leaves, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Raise the heat to medium-high and carefully add the port. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add the beef broth and simmer for a few minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Turn off heat and swirl in the butter.
Pour through a strainer into a small saucepan and keep warm while cooking the pork chops.

Season the chops with salt and pepper.

Wipe out the same cast-iron skillet and add the other 1 tablespoon of oil.
Brown the chops on each side for 5 minutes. 
Place a lid on the skillet and cook over low heat until pork chops have an internal temperature of 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.
Turn the chops over halfway through the cooking time.

Transfer chops to warm plates and drizzle on some of the warm port sauce. 

Serves 2 

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CHOPPED GREEN SALAD WITH RED ONION & CUCUMBER

This is the traditional salad my mother-in-law, Marie Casazza, Big Mamma, Mamaw, Aunt Theresa, Uncle Buddy, Aunt Geraldine, and Aunt Angie served with any type of pasta with a red sauce. It is so refreshing and delicious. They served mostly Iceberg lettuce but Romaine has more calcium, 3 times the amount of Vitamin K and folate, and over 10 times the amount of vitamin A. They both equal in taste, calories, fiber, and crunch...so why not switch up?

1 bunch Romaine lettuce
A few thin slices red onion
A few thin slices English cucumber, unpeeled or a regular cucumber, peeled

Salad Dressing
1 t white wine vinegar, or vinegar of your choice
1 t fresh lemon juice
6 T extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chop the Romaine lettuce and place in a salad spinner and completely rinse and then spin dry.

Pour into a salad bowl and add the red onion and cucumber slices.

In a small bowl or jar fitted with a lid, add the vinegar, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Whisk or shake vigorously to combine and pour over salad.

Toss the salad very well to combine and divide between two salad plates.

You can add a little more freshly ground black pepper to each plate, if desired, before serving.

Serves 2