Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

This entire dish comes together in thirty minutes but it's decadent and guest-worthy. It also features very few ingredients.

You'll need (serves 4):

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

5 shallots

8oz crimini mushrooms (about 2c)

1/2 vermouth

1c heavy whipping cream

2T olive oil

Preheat oven to its lowest possible temperature.

Mince shallots; set aside. Mince mushrooms (or chop coarsely, if you want a more prominent mushroom-ness to the dish) and set aside.

Slice each chicken breast in half to make 2 even-ish cutlets that are thinner than the original breast (so you'll be slicing them horizontally, if that makes sense). Place cutlets between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound so they're all of even thickness-- they should be about 1/2 inch thick at most. You can pound with a meat mallet or use the bottom of a heavy pan.

Heat olive oil in a heavy, wide skillet.  Salt and pepper the chicken cutlets and brown them in batches, being careful not to crowd the skillet. Once you lay the chicken down, don't move it or you won't achieve good browning. Flip chicken when one side is light golden and do the other side too. Place browned cutlets on a plate; when they're all cooked, put the plate in the oven to keep the chicken warm.

There should be a bit of oil left in the skillet; add the shallots and stir until the shallots turn golden. Add the mushrooms and cook until dark and liquid is released and evaporated, about 7 minutes. Add vermouth and reduce by half. Add cream and let boil over medium heat until reduced and thick. When it's as thick as you want it, put the chicken in the sauce and serve. We ate this with red-brown rice, and green beans which will be featured in a post soon.