- If you're looking for a creamy, comforting weeknight meal,
then you've gotta try my chicken Florentine recipe.
And if you like this video, don't forget
to hit that like button and subscribe.
Hey, you're watching Preppy Kitchen where I, John Kanell,
teach you how to make delicious homemade dishes
to share with your family and friends.
This chicken Florentine'll be ready
in less than 20 minutes.
So let's get started.
I grated 3/4 of a cup of Parmesan cheese.
Now I'm gonna give five cloves of garlic
a nice smash and mince them up.
That's the only prep work for this.
It's so easy.
Smashing the garlic helps release the oils
and it's really fun.
And that's five cloves.
So if I see that there's actually two smaller cloves
in one bigger one, that counts as one.
Give these a nice mince.
Set that garlic aside,
and now we're gonna pound the chicken.
This recipe uses four chicken breasts.
You could scale it down if you want,
but it is so delicious.
You're gonna love all the leftovers,
if there are any.
I'm just gonna cover the chicken breasts
with some parchment paper and then give them a pound.
It kind of like decreases the mess.
The main purpose of this, by the way,
is to get a nice even cooking chicken.
You don't want any raw parts or overcooked parts.
So get one layer that's about a little bit less
than an inch thick.
This brings back memories,
because when I first started cooking for Brian,
I don't think you had ever known what a poultry hammer was.
So he saw me banging on the counter,
he's like, what are you doing?
And I explained to the whole process of why we tenderize
and flatten chicken.
Grab some salt and pepper.
We're going to season the chicken,
so just season accordingly.
Pinch here or there.
Pepper as well.
Flip the chicken over and repeat.
I'm gonna set this aside
and clean my workspace up.
Right now I'm gonna add about 1/3 of a cup of flour
to a plate.
You could also use a shallow bowl.
This'll be for dredging the chicken.
Dredging the chicken in flour
just lets it absorb more flavor from the sauce
and get a really nice, beautiful brown color.
I'm gonna use my fingers.
I was trying to be super neat,
but it's so much easier to do this by hand.
Cover both sides completely in flour.
You want it totally white and powdery.
No chicken exposed.
Your chicken's dredged.
Right now we're gonna set our pan
over medium, medium-high heat.
Add one tablespoon of butter
and like a nice tablespoon of olive oil as well.
Let that get nice and hot.
In the meantime, I'm gonna open up my bottle of wine.
I want 3/4 of a cup of like a nice dry white wine for this.
If you don't wanna use wine, that's totally fine.
Go ahead and use chicken stock instead.
They're very different, but they do a similar thing.
We need a better wine opener.
(cork pops) (John gasps)
Once your butter is nice and melted,
we're gonna cook these chicken breasts two at a time.
I'm still conflicted,
'cause you could basically fit four on there
but it really crowds them out.
So if you have a giant pan, cook them all together,
otherwise just cook them in batches of two
and you'll be happy.
Everything will shrink up to fit in the pan
after cooking though.
And speaking of cooking,
I'm gonna cover the pan while the chicken cooks.
It really helps them be just more cooked through.
We're gonna cook these for about four minutes,
but just check on them every minute or so
and see how they're doing.
You want them to be golden brown on both sides.
So, you know, everyone's stove runs different.
This one is totally different from that one.
It drives me crazy.
Chicken Florentine is one
of my favorite dishes, when it's done right.
There's so many bad versions of it
and there's no excuse.
Cream, white wine, and garlic, butter, chicken, spinach.
These things are all amazing.
Your dish will be even better when they're combined
in the right proportions.
All right, it's been about four, four inches.
It's been about four minutes.
Let's take a look at our chicken.
(pan sizzling)
That's a nice golden color.
We're just gonna flip it over
and let it continue cooking.
Okay, that chicken is nice and golden brown.
I'm gonna remove this onto a plate
and cook the remaining chicken.
If you notice that there's some like burnt parts
or it got extra caramelized,
you could just use some paper towels
and wipe the pan down really quick.
I don't really care, but it's an option.
Now I'm gonna add two tablespoons of butter
right onto my very hot pan.
It's kind of a lot, but this is part of the sauce.
So we want it to be really rich
and just beautifully decadent.
To the butter, we're gonna add all that delicious garlic.
Pop it right in there.
And just stir around, almost constantly.
Right now I'm gonna measure up 3/4 of a cup
of that delicious wine.
Okay.
Garlic is nice and fragrant.
Before it burns, we're gonna add that wine in.
(pan sizzling)
Mm!
The smell, wine, garlic, and butter
are a match made in heaven.
So, if you've noticed,
my pan's been off heat this entire time.
These big cast iron pans really hold the heat in.
So it was red hot.
Now I'm gonna put it back onto heat.
I want this wine to reduce by about half.
It's gonna cook the alcohol off and leave just
that amazing flavor.
To the wine, I'm gonna add 1/2 a teaspoon
of Italian seasoning.
Just sprinkle it right in.
If you want to, you can skip it,
but it adds a nice depth of flavor.
Pan's on medium.
The wine's reduced.
I'm gonna add that one cup of cream right now.
And if you wanted, you could definitely use half and half,
if that's what you prefer.
I love the cream in here.
Let it come to a simmer and then we can add the cheese.
My cream has come to a simmer.
Right now I'm gonna stir in all that delicious,
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 3/4 of a cup.
You could be more generous if you want.
Stir it in.
I'm gonna reduce to low right now.
Cheese is all melted.
Add in three cups of spinach.
And if you ever tried to fit spinach
into a measuring cup, don't.
Never do that.
One cup equals one handful, which is a lot.
So this is about a cup of spinach.
It'll cook down to almost nothing.
So in this recipe,
I would actually use an entire five-ounce container
and be quite happy.
You could use a little bit less.
If that seems like a lot to you, it really isn't.
All right, my spinach wilted to nothing
and now we're gonna add those four chicken breasts
right into the pan.
Just kind of scooch the spinach over.
So it's not a hidden on the bottom.
You want it to be exposed.
Let this simmer for about four minutes on low
just so the chicken warms back up
and the sauce thickens up a little bit more
and then serve over anything you want,
or just eat by itself.
If you like this video,
check out my chicken dinner playlist.
(upbeat music)
That is a symphony of flavor.
And I love that garlicky spinach
with the creamy white wine sauce.
I'll see you in the next video.