Virtuous Chicken and Mushrooms

I've been feeling guilty about the large assortment of ingredients I have stuffed into my kitchen cabinets. What a great feeling to use something that's been hanging around for a while to make a satisfying dish. If you have a package of dried mushrooms squeezed into one of your cabinets, find it now and make Virtuous Chicken and Mushrooms. I served this with brown basmati rice and stir fried carrots.

1/2 cup dried mushrooms (porcini, shitake, whatever)

1 cup hot water

4 chicken cutlets (1 lb.)

1 1/2 tb. olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 tbl. unsalted butter

Put the mushrooms in a bowl of cold water, stir them around and then lift them out.  Repeat this two more times to remove any grit. Then cover the mushrooms with the hot water and soak about 30 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, remove the mushrooms from the water and chop them coarsely. Reserve the soaking liquid.

Pound the chicken breasts between pieces of plastic wrap until they are 1/2 inch thick.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken, cook about 30 seconds on each side and turn heat down to medium.  Cook chicken until done (about 5 minutes) turning once. Remove chicken to platter.

Increase the heat to medium-high, add the mushrooms and saute 1o seconds.  Strain 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom liquid through a sieve into the skillet. Boil down until almost evaporated. Repeat the process with 1/4 cup of the wine. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of wine and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the butter, stirring until it is just melted. Pour the sauce over the chicken, scraping up the browned bits, and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Note: To feel even more virtuous, save the remaining strained mushroom liquid and use it in a soup or stew.