This sauce is fantastic! All the earthy flavor of mushrooms and rich as well! I had made Salmon and Mussels with a Mixed Mushroom Sauce and had leftover sauce so I saved it, warmed it up, grilled chicken and poured it over the chicken! What a great way to have another meal not to mention super easy since the sauce was already done! The purpose of using dried mushrooms is to thicken the sauce and incorporate the rich bold flavor of the reserved liquid, which I like to call liquid gold. Serves 2 with leftover sauce or will serve 4 by making 4 filets.
Ingredients
Chicken
2 -4 oz. chicken filets (I cut whole chicken breasts in half for a much moister piece of chicken and it will reduce cooking times.)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Sauce
1/2 oz. container/bag of dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup of boiling water
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of mixed mushrooms cleaned and sliced (I used shitake and button mushrooms)
1 shallot peeled and minced
3/4 cup of red wine
1 cup of beef broth
1/2 cup of cream
2 tablespoons of butter
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Suggested Side Dish
Even though this can be a meal itself you can add cooked pasta which goes nicely with the sauce, Croistini for scooping up the sauce or Sautéed Spinach with Garlic.
Technique
Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add dried mushrooms. Reconstitute for about 20-30 minutes. While mushrooms are reconstituting prep the rest of the sauce ingredients. After the mushrooms have reconstituted strain mushrooms from liquid but save liquid. Wash mushrooms to remove any grit. Using a paper towel strain liquid to remove grit and reserve liquid. In a blender add reserved liquid and mushrooms and blend until smooth. Set aside.   In a large skillet over medium high heat add olive oil and mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms begin to release their liquid. Add more oil if pan seems way too dry. Add shallots and sauté for about a minute. Add wine to deglaze the pan and reduce wine by half. Add broth and reduce by half. Whisk in blended mushroom mixture (you may need to add a little bit beef broth or red wine to get the mixture out), cream and butter. Add salt and pepper and taste. Adjust seasoning if needed. Turn heat off and cover to keep warm while grilling the chicken.
 Preheat grill or grill pan to medium high heat. Coat chicken with olive oil and add a dash of salt and pepper to both sides. Place on grill or grill pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until done. There should be no pink in the middle. Use the How to Test Meat for Doneness technique so the chicken will remain moist, tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. If you have larger pieces of meat cooking times will be longer. Also cooking times will vary depending on your grill.  Plate by adding sauce to a plate top with chicken and add more sauce. Serve extra sauce on the side.
Suggested Beverage
Try a red that has on the medium side of robust. Try Parducci Family Farmed Pinot Noir (California), Bogle Vineyards Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley), Masi Modello Delle Venezie (Italy), Cantina Zaccagnini il vino “dal tralcetto†Montepuliciano d’Abruzzo Dry Red Wine (Italy).  Beer lovers try Flensburger Brauerei Gold Premium Lager Beer (Germany), Samuel Adams® Boston Lager® (Boston, MA) or Baltika Premium Lager (St. Petersburg, Russia).
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