Chicken with Brie and vegetable sauce
Lindsey Nair l The Roanoke Times
There’s always a spot in my recipe scrapbook for a dish that’s quick and easy to fix, but doesn’t taste like it. However, I am typically skeptical about these rapid-fire recipes if they call for convenience or packaged ingredients along with something fairly expensive, such as pine nuts or a really fine cheese.
I can’t help but worry that I’ll be spending a bunch of money on a specialty ingredient that will be lost in the dish or wasted on the dish. I guess that’s the pessimistic way of looking at it; you could also hope the fancy ingredient will serve as that bit of magic dust that elevates the entire meal to a new level.
Last night, I tried a recipe that was a fine example of this predicament. Most of the ingredients for Sauteed Chicken with Brie & Vegetable Sauce were pretty typical: boneless chicken breasts, water, milk, white wine and vegetable soup/recipe mix. But then, it called for 4 oz. Brie, Gruyere or fontina cheese, which is not exactly as affordable as my 8 oz. bags of shredded Kroger-brand cheddar.
Lindsey Nair l The Roanoke Times
I took the chance on this dish because it sounded so delicious, and I knew the leftover Brie would not go to waste (give me a loaf of crusty bread and a glass of wine – Mmmm). The recipe was extremely simple and the dish cooked really quickly (would have been even quicker with thinner chicken breasts). We enjoyed the flavor and will probably continue to enjoy it when we have leftovers tonight.
Would I buy a hunk of Brie again for the specific purpose of making this dish? Probably not. If I had some Brie leftover from a party or something, would I buy some chicken and vegetable soup mix for the specific purpose of making this dish? Absolutely. I suppose you could also buy a small wedge of Brie at a shop that will cut and sell by the pound.
Click this link to see and/or print the recipe for Sauteed Chicken with Brie & Vegetable Sauce. What did you make this weekend that you would or would not make again?
August 30, 2010 - 10:31 AM
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Sounds delicious but could cream cheese be used as a substitute for Brie if you didn’t have it available? It wouldn’t taste the same, I’m sure, but it could make the dish easier prepare more often.
I can’t think of any reason why not, other than that Brie obviously has stronger flavor than cream cheese. The recipe notes possible substitutions as Gruyere and fontina, but I had some sliced havarti in the fridge that I almost used instead of buying the Brie. I just wanted to see how it would taste using the original ingredients first.
Tip: When it says to only let the Brie melt 2 minutes, that’s serious. I let it sit longer and the Brie all melted into the sauce, which is fine flavor-wise, but it’s prettier with more melted cheese on top!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I make a killer macaroni and cheese that calls for gruyere, fontina, and some other pricey cheeses. I always wind up with some left-over and more often than not, it goes bad. Now I have something easy to do with the leftover fromage. Hooray!
I found my mothers recipe for spoonbread It calls for 2 cups of scalded milk. How do you scald milk?
David,
To scald milk means to heat it to just below the boiling point while taking care to make sure it does NOT boil. Use the heaviest-bottomed saucepan you’ve got and stir the milk occasionally. If using a thermometer, cook the milk until the thermometer reaches about 180-185 degrees. If you do not have a thermometer, take the pot off the heat when you see tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges.
Interestingly, I read that the milk-scalding technique came about when most milk was unpasteurized. So some say you technically don’t have to do it; others say it still changes the proteins so it is necessary if a recipe calls for it.