The Setup:
Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Sundays are for sleeping in until at least 9:00. They're for letting Ihop cook you breakfast, for playing old school Ninja Turtles video games, and for cooking delicious, cheesy dinners. Sundays are easy. Yesterday was Sunday, and even though I only got to sleep until 8:00 and my breakfast was a microwavable egg mcmuffin, I definitely found time to play Ninja Turtles and cook a delicious, cheesy dinner: chicken florentine. All in all it was a successful Sunday.
The Original Recipe:
2) Melt the rest of the butter in a medium saucepan and saute onion until golden. Add flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
3) Gradually add the milk and cream. Bring to a boil, stirring, and cook for another 3 minutes.
4) In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with a fork. Temper the egg into the cream sauce, then add the parmesan cheese and stir until sauce is smooth and cheese is melted.
5) Cook spinach as package directs and drain well. Mix 1 cup of the cheese sauce into the spinach.
6) Layer the spinach in the bottom of a 2 qt. casserole dish. Arrange chicken in a single layer on top of the spinach.
The Original Recipe:
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| Cooking the chicken tenders in the stock. |
- 3 whole chicken breasts, split
- Flour for dredging
- 1 stick butter
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 2 T finely chopped onion
- 1/2 tsp salt & 1/8 tsp white pepper
- Dash of nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 pkgs. frozen spinach
- 2 T swiss cheese
2) Melt the rest of the butter in a medium saucepan and saute onion until golden. Add flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
3) Gradually add the milk and cream. Bring to a boil, stirring, and cook for another 3 minutes.
4) In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with a fork. Temper the egg into the cream sauce, then add the parmesan cheese and stir until sauce is smooth and cheese is melted.
5) Cook spinach as package directs and drain well. Mix 1 cup of the cheese sauce into the spinach.
6) Layer the spinach in the bottom of a 2 qt. casserole dish. Arrange chicken in a single layer on top of the spinach.
7) Cover with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle the swiss cheese on top.
8) Broil 6" away from heat for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned. If making ahead, heat in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
My Substitutions:
The Verdict:
My Substitutions:
- I used chicken tenders instead of whole chicken breasts - just to cut down the cooking time.
- The recipe doesn't call for the chicken itself to be seasoned, but I seasoned mine with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
- I used all swiss cheese instead of using both parm and swiss - because that's what I had on hand.
- I used a whole egg instead of just the yolk.
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| Layering the chicken on top of the cheesy spinach. |
This was my first time ever making chicken florentine, and this recipe is definitely going to be on a normal rotation in my kitchen. It was creamy and cheesy and very filling. The recipe was really good "as-is", other than the fact that it didn't call for seasoning the chicken. I seasoned mine, and it still could have used just a bit more. However, when you got a bite of the chicken along with the spinach and sauce it was perfect. I think using all swiss cheese instead of using both parm and swiss worked out just fine. If you have both types of cheese on hand - by all means, use both. But if you don't want to spend the money on both, go with the swiss. As a bonus to making this chicken florentine, I now know how to make creamed spinach! That's basically what the bottom layer of this dish is, and I'll be making it again as a side dish for another meal.
Today I served this alongside some Uncle Ben's Rice Pilaf.
