The origins of this dish remain shrouded in mystery…mainly to me because I have no recollection of creating it. I honestly came across it when I was rummaging through a pile of post it notes and scraps of paper. I can only conjecture what inspired it. Fortunately, when I make something really good I usually scribble something down, even if it’s just an ingredient list. This time I even had some sort of directions. Recreating a dish that you don’t remember using your own garbled instructions, now that’s cooking. This dish show cases an underutilized vegetable, fennel. Don’t let this bad boy intimidate you. The slices cook up sweet with a slight anisette flavor. Great in soups, braises and with seafood.

What You’ll Need

Approximately 1 hour total time

1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

Flour for dredging

1 T butter or pork fat

3 cloves garlic minced

8 oz thinly sliced cremini mushrooms

1 fennel bulb (just the white part) thinly sliced

1 small onion chopped

3 stalks celery thinly sliced

1 large carrot thinly sliced

1 C chicken stock

¾ C marsala

½ tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp each salt and pepper

¼ C fresh basil

1 T capers

1 T balsamic vinegar

5 T cream cheese

½ C peas

1 C jasmine rice

Start by prepping the veggies; garlic, mushrooms, fennel, onion, celery and carrot. I always try to prep all the vegetables first, that way you can use the same cutting board for the meat without cross contaminating. Ok, now that’s out of the way.

Next cut the chicken breasts into 1/2” strips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then dredge in the flour until coated. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the chicken on all sides in a large pan or a dutch oven in the fat.

Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for several minutes. Then add the fennel, onion, celery and carrot and cook for 8 minutes, until soft.

Now add the stock, marsala, crushed red pepper, fresh basil, capers, balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and then put it into the 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

While that’s happening, go ahead and make your rice. Bring 1 C rice and 2 C water to a boil in a sauce pan then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat leaving the cover on.

After 20 minutes, stir in the cream cheese and peas and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.