chicken in avocado sauce

I made a new recipe last night. It had been hiding in my recipe box for I don't know how long but was recovered when I made my monthly menu plan last week. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I was richly rewarded for my nerve. YUM. It was so incredibly good. I wanted to eat more and more. I wanted it worse than the Armadillos ice cream we had after dinner. And when we came back in the house from our outing, the smell lingered and made me crave it again, even though my stomach was plum full of chocolate ice cream and hot fudge.

Here is my cooking station. I just bought that recipe holder at Menards for super cheap and I love it.

Chicken Breasts in Avocado Sauce

--> adapted slightly from their slightly adapted recipe

4-5 skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves (i used 5 b/c i wanted leftovers)

salt and pepper to taste

flour for dredging

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped celery (i omitted this since i didn't have any and it was delish without it)

1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered (i left mine unquartered)

2 Tab flour

1.5 - 2c chicken broth (i used one of those flavor booster tubs b/c it's cheaper than broth -Knorr homestyle stock- and added water until i had the consistency i wanted. the original recipe called for only 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup dry white vermouth, white wine or whit grape juice (i used vermouth)

1.5 cups grated monterey jack cheese (i forgot to add this and it was just fine without it. less fattening too)

2 ripe avocados (called for only 1)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flatten chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap. Put salt, pepper and flour in a paper bag and shake chicken pieces in it one at a time, shaking off excess.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (used my new 12 inch skillet), and saute chicken until evenly browned on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt the butter in the pan and sear the mushrooms until brown and crispy, turning over to ensure both sides brown. During mushrooms second side, add onions over the top of them to begin softening. When mushrooms are finished browning on second side, mix mushrooms and onions and continue cooking until onions are soft. Add garlic, cooking until fragrant.

Stir the 2 Tabs of flour and heat, stirring, then add the broth (or tub of stock and water like I did), stirring and scraping until the mixture is thick and uniform. Gradually stir in the vermouth and cook, stirring until mixtures is uniform, adding more broth/water as desired. Stir in cheese here if desired. Halve, pit and scoop out avocado and mash thoroughly (i used my potato masher). Stir into sauce and heat through. I added about 3/4 teaspoons salt and a dash of pepper here. Put chicken in oven-safe baking dish (my 9x13 pyrex) and pour sauce over. Bake 15 minutes. Serve hot with potatoes, rice or pasta. I made seared potatoes in the pan while the chicken baked and that went together great.

I can't wait for leftover lunch today.