Chicken Maria

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If I have ever brought you a meal because your were sick, or just had a baby, or simply dealing with the overwhelming nature of life, chances are I brought you Chicken Maria, my go to shareable meal. The chicken is dependably tender and moist, the wine and lemon add a bit of sophistication and the mushrooms and ooey gooey melty cheese on top just say INDULGE IN ME!! Even people that have confessed their dislike of mushrooms have raved, “But I LOVED your Chicken Maria!” It’s another one of my favorite meals that’s made up of everyday fresh ingredients, making it easy enough for a weeknight meal, but special enough to share with those you love and want to spoil!

Making Chicken Maria takes very few ingredients, therefore all the more important to procure ingredients that are of the highest quality you can manage. I’m guessing you’ve read before that if you’re going to cook with wine, make sure it is of a quality you would actually like to drink….and in my world that means bring on the MatzingerDavies! Shout out to my sister (Anna Matzinger) and brother in law (Michael Davies), wine makers extraordinaire who consistently create fabulous MatzingerDavies Chardonnay along with several other varietals including their highly lauded Pinot Noir. You can check out their lovely wines and read their non-sisterly, completely unbiased accolades at www.matzingerdavies.com. But oooooooh, this sister does like to brag and I do endorse making their wines the focal point of many a meal….or happy hour! 🙂

But I digress…..Chicken Maria is basically made in two parts. First prepping/sauteing the chicken and second, putting it all together to bake. To begin prepping, the chicken breasts need to be pounded to about 1/2 inch thickness. This could be a messy project, but let me be your guide to easy peasy breast pounding! It honestly just requires a copious amount of plastic wrap. On a clean counter top, lay down two horizontally overlapping (a few inches is good) sheets, about 18″-24″ long. Place the chicken breasts on top and then lay down two more overlapping sheets. The key is to have lots of extra space around the chicken breasts so they have room to flatten, and around the edges so that the plastic wrap can kind of “seal” and you don’t have bacteria ridden chicken juices flying around your kitchen! Each chicken breast is going to need a few healthy thwacks with something heavy. I happen to have a meat pounder now, but for years I simply used a rolling pin and that worked just fine!

Once you have your chicken breasts pounded you are ready to saute. They need a quick bath in the egg mixture, then into the gluten free bread crumbs (you may find you have to pat some areas with the bread crumbs, to make sure each breast is evenly coated in crumbs) and finally into a preheated pan to saute for about 3 minutes per side until they are golden-brown. I find it works best to set up an assembly line of sorts, so I literally have a line up moving from the counter onto to the stovetop in this order:

1. Pounded chicken breasts
2. Pie plate or shallow dish with eggs
3. Plate or wax paper with breadcrumbs/panko
4. Heated pan on stove
5. Baking dish

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Layer the sauteed chicken in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish or something of similar size. Pour in the combined chicken broth, wine and lemon juice, scatter the sliced mushrooms over the top and then arrange cheese slices (I usually try to cut the slices pretty thin and then layer a couple slices over each breast) on top and your dish is oven ready! At this point you can bake your chicken immediately, or stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours until baking time. Cover in aluminum foil for most of the baking, and remove foil for the last 15 minutes of baking,.

One Note, if you are baking Chicken Maria that has been in the fridge, it will need additional time in the oven (at least 15 minutes) so plan accordingly.

Once this Chicken Maria comes out of the oven it will be all you can do not to dive in and relish its’ deliciousness! And if you happen to be enjoying it with a MatzingerDavies Chardonnay, well let me just say it will be the beginning of a very beautiful evening!! Bon Appetit!

Mom’s Hints for Sharing and Serving

1. If I’m taking this meal to someone else I like to prepare it in a disposal aluminum pan. I realize this isn’t exactly “green”, but my theory is that if someone’s life is such that they would benefit from the gift of a meal, they probably deserve a pass on the responsibility of being “green”! Try to find a disposal pan that has sides at least 2 1/2″ tall, sometimes these are called lasagna pans. The tall sides help prevent the melted cheese from sticking to the aluminum foil rather than the chicken!
2. I usually serve this chicken dish with any kind of rice or quinoa. You’ll want something to help soak up the yummy sauce! Like the chicken, I bring this already cooked and in a disposal pan.
3. Round out the meal with a simple green salad and Everyday Salad Dressing! Again, a disposable container is key! Sometimes I make the salad and then just dump it all in a ziplock bag and I tuck the salad dressing inside, also in it’s own ziploc or small disposal container if I happen to have one on hand.
4. If I can manage the timing, I always like to bring this meal to it’s recipient hot and ready to eat. (Again, I figure if anyone needs a meal, they probably DON’T need any of the hassles of being in the kitchen!) The beauty of Chicken Maria though is that it reheats beautifully, so if timing doesn’t work out perfectly no worries. Chicken Maria can gently re-heat in a 350 degree oven.