Cream Cuisine

We're in that most fortunate of positions...at the end of the pay period with a 1/2 gallon of heavy cream. I'm a little embarrassed to admit to such a thing in my refrigerator. I like to think that I cook mostly healthy foods. Although, a large percentage of my blog posts seem to be about baked goods requiring inordinate amounts of butter, I swear those are the exceptions!

It just so happens that they are much more interesting post material then spaghetti or salad or toast or leftovers. They are special occasions enough that I'm excited about them.

So back to that cream...last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. I volunteered to bring scones to the teacher's lunchroom. Vacillating back and forth between Dorie Greenspan's Scones and the Boat Street Scones recipes, I was unsure how much cream to buy. Also, I had not decided whether or not to double the recipe...and one recipe of the Boat Street Scones requires 3 cups of cream.

I found myself at Costco last shopping trip, as you know from the pork shoulder post. And of course, Costco only sells in QUANTITY, thus the 1/2 gallon of heavy cream.

Well, I opted for the Dorie Greenspan Scones, requiring less cream leaving me with a bunch o' cream in the fridge.

Now, maybe it's a bad idea to base a dinner around such an ingredient as heavy cream, but that's what I did.

Chicken Cutlets with Cream Sauce

4 smallish chicken breasts, pounded flat (about 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
salt and pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 TB fresh chives, chopped
olive oil
One package of dried gnocchi, prepared per package instructions

Season the chicken breasts with the salt and pepper a few hours ahead if possible. Bread lightly with the bread crumbs. Fry in the olive oil until you get some nice color on the meat. Remove from the pan, wipe clean, and add some more olive oil to the pan.

Add the onions and garlic, sauteing for a few minutes. Add the bay leaf and the thyme. Cook for a minute or so. Add the chicken back in and pour over the cream. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Remove the bay leaf and add in the chives. Taste the sauce, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Pour the sauce over the plate of gnocchi and top with the chicken breasts.

Their were initial complaints by certain small people in the family, but then they tasted it. And good it was! The baby gummed down a dozen gnocchi, and the kids tucked in like it was spaghetti (their all-time favorite dish). Of course, we adults had our fair share, too.

After dinner during the dishes, I felt my body going a tad into "cream shock". This dinner needs to be followed by a brisk walk in the chilly Northwest May evening! Now what should I do with the rest of the cream??? My heart may yet be young, but it's clogging up as we speak...