Chicken and Mushrooms a la Sonny's

First, a story...

Sonny's Pizzeria is located in Hopewell Junction down the road from Camp Kinder Ring. Anyone working at our camp not only thought of Sonny's as their second home away from home, but we all knew the phone number by heart. Counselors sitting "OD" on an adirondack chair on the porches of their campers' bunks knew that somehow they would be given a parm from Sonny's to get them through the late night. By a parm, of course Sonny knew that we meant chicken. If you weren't from camp and you came into the restaurant and asked for a parm, Sonny would yell at you. "A Parm? What kind of parm? Chicken? Eggplant? What?" But the counselors from camp were treated like family, like royalty, and Sonny knew each and everyone one of us. On visiting day, the 4th Saturday of every summer, alumni counselors would come up, first have dinner at Sonny's and then spend visiting day at the camp. It was a ritual. They loved it and Sonny loved it.

Sue Smith and I created this painting as a backdrop for a camp play. I can't even remember which play it was, but Debbie, the director, rewrote the setting of the play to be Hopewell Junction. Sue and I had so much fun driving around the town and taking pictures of all the important stops along the way to show in our painting. Sonny's Ristorante not only was a prominent location, but of course, Sonny made the scene as well! Dressed as he always was, in a white chef shirt with the top 4 buttons undone, gold chains around his neck, and a pack of cigarettes folded into one of his short sleeves, he was quite the character and nobody messed around with him. It was not a question that he would be a part of our scenery.

Sue and I would visit Sonny's every week instead of having the Wednesday BBQ down by the lake. It wasn't that we didn't want the finest hot dogs grilled by the Hawk, but we enjoyed that night as our night out. Sue would always have a glass of wine with the regulars at the bar, a Sonny's salad, and a slice of pizza. One of my favorite dishes was chicken and mushrooms on a plate, simply sautéed white chicken breast with mushrooms. My son, Zach, used to get the chicken and mushrooms on a sub. To this day, we can't seem to be able to order this at any other Italian restaurant, at least not like Sonny made it. This recipe is not only my way of paying homage to the great Sonny, but mine is gluten free! I don't think Sonny would have appreciated my asking him to make anything GF, since nobody would ever dare to ask him for something new or different. I actually hope that never changes. Some places should remain always as they live in our memories.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets
3/4 c brown rice flour
1 tsp kosher salt
Olive oil, butter
1 package white button or cremini mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Pinch of salt
3 cloves of garlic, crushed

• Pound the chicken cutlets thin between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Cut the chicken into pieces about 2" x 4" in size.
• Mix the flour and salt together in a large plastic bag. Drop about 4 pieces of the chicken in the bag at once and shake to coat them with the flour. What you are looking for is a very light coating of the flour on each piece. Continue to coat all the pieces this way.
• Heat a large metal skillet with olive oil. Add some of the chicken to the pan to brown. This has to be done in batches so the chicken can cook in one layer without the pieces overlapping. Turn the chicken after the first side browns and then remove to a plate once they're cooked though. Repeat this until all the chicken is done.

• While the chicken is browning, wipe clean the mushrooms, trim the stems if necessary and slice them. Remove the thyme from the stems by pulling the leaves off in a backwards motion and run your knife through the thyme leaves, chopping them slightly. Crush 3 large cloves of garlic.
• After all the chicken is done, add a pat of butter to the pan and sauté the mushrooms with the thyme, a little salt and crushed garlic, until the mushrooms turn golden and tender. Remove the mushroom from the pan.

• Deglaze the pan with the wine, and then add the chicken stock. Return the chicken to the pan with any juices that might have accumulated on the dish. Spoon the mushrooms over the top of the chicken. Cover the pan and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes. The flour that you originally dredged the chicken in will thicken the wine and broth and create a delicious sauce.
• Although Sonny simply folded his chicken and mushrooms in a fresh roll, I served mine over polenta to catch every drop of the yummy mushroom gravy. Enjoy!

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