A look inside my kitchen

Is it normal to have a song come to mind when you think of your kitchen? I'll pretend you said yes...Does "Broken Road" ring a bell to you? Well, that's how I feel when I look around! There were a lot of "broken roads" aka F'd up kitchens in my life before this one. It's not just any kitchen. It's the kitchen I've been waiting for, it's the kitchen my husband so lovingly made sure was perfect when we remodeled our new home. This room is where the magic happens! I love to cook and a great kitchen inspires me to create some great meals for my family and friends. It's not a huge space or gourmet chef's dream, but it is my happy place. When we bought our house this room was pretty closed off and dark. Kevin let me take over with the design, we even had a wall taken down to make sure my dream vision came to life in here. We updated everything in my path! The cabinets are white, counters a beautiful quartz that sparkle like a diamond! The best part was when he had a gas line installed for my new range, with a double oven!

My kids think I'm crazy because I am constantly wiping the counters and gray subway tile down. In my defense, I did a lot of crazy things long before this kitchen came into my life! That's another post for another time though...

I find myself excited to cook again! One thing I didn't take the time to do over these last few months was to plan meals out for the week. During my most recent pregnancy I couldn't stand to look at raw food, or the awful kitchen of our rental. Cooking became a chore, which for me was frustrating. So imagine my excitement when I remembered pan sauce while I planned this week's menu!

This is something so easy to make, but my husband and oldest daughter usually think I'm pretty bad-ass when I do it. Tonight I'm using boneless chicken thighs, because that was what I had in my freezer. After they thawed I put them in a storage bag with olive oil and sea salt & fresh pepper, and then back to the fridge until it was time to cook. That step was done in the morning. Once it was time to cook them, I just warmed my pan on med-high heat with a bit more EVOO. Now the chicken goes in. It needs to brown on each side for a few minutes, how fast it cooks depends on the type and size of meat. I like to check the temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer, boneless chicken should be at least 165 and juices will run clear. Now for the fun part! Remove the chicken from the pan and keep it warm. For the sauce you can use a dry white wine, I prefer to use chicken broth. I like to grate some garlic into the broth, I'm using 2 cloves. With the pan still hot, pour in about a cup of broth and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, stir it in and let it simmer. Once it looks well combined, about 2-3 minutes, add some butter. Let the butter melt and carefully add your chicken back to the pan. Let your sauce reduce a bit, it will give it a great consistency. Now just turn the burner down to simmer and make sure the chicken is fully cooked and coated in sauce. It's time to eat!

This dish was delicious! I served mine with some roasted red skinned potatoes and steamed broccoli. I am just a home cook, my recipes are not at all professional. I just enjoy cooking with fresh ingredients and trying new ways to do that. I often find a generic recipe and/or method and tweak a few things to make it my own. I allow myself to just have fun with cooking!

What I used:
1-2 pounds of boneless chicken thighs
3 tbsp EVOO (2 in the bag, 1 for the pan)
salt & pepper to taste
1 lemon (use half if you like less citrus)
2 garlic cloves (or to taste)
1-1.5 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp of butter
*most of my measurements are to my desired taste or consistency. again, I'm not a chef:)


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