Second Time's A Charm?

Oops, I did it again....I made it into the Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-off! A few months ago, I received an e-mail from Manischewitz telling me that this year, only past participants were being invited to submit recipes for this year's contest - their "All-Star Cook-off." I got to cooking and just knew that whatever I made was going to have mushrooms in it. After all, I'm on a bit of a mushroom kick lately, be it with appetizers, entrees, re-vamped entrees, and a million recipes that I don't post in between. There's just something about the earthiness, the caramelization when you cook them down low and slow, and the really deep flavor that they add to any dish that I can't get enough of lately.

My initial plan was to take my Mushroom Napoleons and re-do them a bit to make a very deep and beefy sauce that I'd serve over egg noodles. (The cook-off has rules about the number and types of ingredients you can use for submissions, so I needed to come up with something to fit the parameters.) But luckily I tried out my new idea on some friends and it was only just okay. NOT cook-off worthy.

So, I pored over the Manischewitz website for inspiration - I needed to see which products they offered and hope that inspiration would strike....and it totally did. I got to the page with their latke mix and it hit me: I LOVE crispy chicken + I LOVE anything with potatoes = Why not coat chicken breasts in latke mix? How awesome would it be to bite into a schnitzeled-chicken and have that amazing potato flavor come through? Done and done.

But then I needed a sauce - something deep and rich and a little different. And involving mushrooms, of course. And then, inspiration struck again. (Man, it was a good day in my head!) What goes better with latkes than applesauce?? I didn't think using applesauce in this would work....but apple cider might just be amazing and would be a great nod to that classic Jewish food combination. A little apple cider here, some mushrooms there, and a dash of rosemary for good earthy measure, and we, my friends, have Latke-Crusted Chicken with Apple Cider, Mushroom and Rosemary Sauce.

P.S. Please come out and watch the Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-off at the Manhattan JCC on Thursday, March 27. It's really a fun event and you get to try ALL the dishes!

Latke-Crusted Chicken with Apple Cider, Mushroom and Rosemary Sauce
serves 4

1.5 lb. chicken breasts (about 4 medium sized), butterflied and split in half (8 thin pieces of chicken)

1 box of Manischewitz Homestyle Latke Mix

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. oil
2 large shallot, chopped
8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup apple cider

2 tbsp. flour

2 cups Manischewitz Reduced-Sodium Chicken Broth

2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped (about 1 tbsp.)

salt, pepper

1. Pour the latke mix into a shallow dish. Dredge the thin chicken breasts in the mix on both sides, making sure to completely cover the chicken.
2. Heat the 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pan-fry the chicken breasts in the oil until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. (Add additional oil, if necessary, halfway through.) Place the chicken on a paper towel-lined baking sheet in a single layer and keep warm in a 200 degree oven.
3. Discard any residue from the bottom of the pan and old cooking oil. Add the remaining 2 tbsp. of oil. Add the shallots and sweat them for 2 minutes until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes, or until they've reduced in size and are golden.
6. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the apple cider and de-glaze the pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until liquid has reduced and thickened.
6. Sprinkle in the 2 tbsp. of flour and allow to cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock slowly and add the chopped rosemary. Increase the heat to bring the sauce to a bubble.
7. Reduce the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes and thicken. Season to taste AFTER the sauce is at the right consistency. (If you season it before it reduces and thickens, it could get too salty.)
8. Arrange the chicken on a serving plate. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with additional whole sprigs of rosemary. Serve immediately.