Chicken and Potatoes in a Garlic Spinach Cream Sauce

I’m feeling a “Chopped” moment coming on. For those of you that do not watch the show “Chopped” you have to make an appetizer, entree and (if you’re lucky) a dessert in a short period of time with the ingredients they provide. Lucky for me I don’t have the short period of time to deal with. I, again, have leftover chicken from my Herb Brined Roasted Chicken recipe and most of it is the dark meat. I have some little fingerling potatoes and a bunch of red potatoes I got from Sam’s Club. And we both know how many a bunch is at Sam’s Club...a lot! Which ever potato I decide to use I’ll pre cook them just enough so they start to get soft, since the chicken was already cooked. The rest of the ingredients I’ll use are:

 For the Parmesan and white roux:

2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic (jar) or 3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
Leftover chicken, cut into bite size pieces
8-10 fingerling potatoes, cleaned and quartered

Directions:

In a medium size pot add enough water to cover the potatoes and bring to boil. Add potatoes and cook until they are just soft. Test often with a fork. Drain and set aside.

In a medium/large size skillet on med/high heat add the olive oil. When the olive oil is hot add in the garlic and sauté for 3-5 minutes then reduce heat to medium and add in the chicken. We want to keep it warm, but not cook it further, so we don’t dry it out.

Make your roux by melting butter in a saucepan over med/high heat. Once melted add in the flour and stir. Add in the cream a little at a time to make sure the roux is smooth and not lumpy. I have this new flat whisk that is good for gravy, I wonder if it also works for roux??? Once you have all your cream in add the cheese and stir until it’s melted. Add in the cup of chicken stock, stir to combine. Cook 3-5 minutes. Watch your consistency, we don’t want it too thick or too watery.

Add the potatoes to the skillet with the chicken stir to combine and salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the roux mixture over the chicken and potatoes add in the chopped spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted. Now I’m going to cross my fingers and have my granddaughters taste test this...hope they like it. Yum Yum!


I wonder if it would be good enough for Ted Allen?