OK. I get it. Hyperbole = Diminishing Returns.
BUT...
Last Sunday night's dinner was in the Top Five Ever. Seriously.
Tough week... Tough weekend... and all of the Sunday food shows were MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! So, being the suggestible fellow I am, I wanted meat!
But we eat beef and pork and lamb so rarely... There was none in the house! So how was I supposed to turn our chicken breasts into MeatMeatMeat!?!? And then I thought, Why not return to a favorite standby that could be... reimagined... to meet the needs of the evening?
So, I took one chicken breast and cut it in half... pounded it thin... salted, peppered, and floured it... dipped each piece in egg white left from the morning's scrambled eggs, then in bread crumbs... and then let them sit in the fridge.
I cut some Yukon Golds into 1-inch pieces, put them in a bowl with water, just enough to cover... and nuked them for about 6-7 minutes. Then I sautéed them in schmaltz (in American: chicken fat)! Yes, really! Skimmed from the stock I'd made on Saturday! Plus a hefty bit of salt and a ridiculous amount of pepper until those Yukons were a gorgeous golden brown and fully cooked.
At the same time, I sautéed the breasts in schmaltz (why not???) and held them in a 350° oven while the potatoes finished.
As for the sauce... More schmaltz, stock, the remainder of a jar of crema di porcini from our dear friends' travels in Tuscany (THANK YOU, Cindy Joseph and Bruce Kocher!). The two of us sat in front of a roaring fire, laughing like idiots as we tasted this WAY over-the-top, extraordinary MeatMeatMeat meal that was, in reality, just a chicken breast with potatoes...
God I love food...