Directions

• When you walk in the door
• Don’t refrigerate the chicken
• Get out Pantry Items
• Get out Tools
• Assemble the ingredients
• Open the wine and pour yourself a glass
• Prep
• Fill large saucepan with 6 cups water, 1 bay leaf, and 1-1/2 tsps. salt and put it over high heat
• Peel and mince the onion.
• Peel the celery stalks, and thinly slice them.
• Peel and mince the shallot.
• Separate the leaves of lettuce, wash, and spin them dry.
• Tear them into large, bite-sized pieces.
• Rinse and pat dry the parsley. Pluck 1 cup leaves.
• Separate 2 sprigs rosemary from the bunch.
• Cooking
• Melt 4 tbsps. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, to add to the cooked polenta. When it’s melted, remove it from the heat.
• Heat 2 tbsps. oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts on the skin side, season with salt and pepper, and brown them only on their skin side, which will take about 5 minutes. If the chicken is browning too fast, turn down the heat to medium.
• If the pan is crowded, brown the chicken in two batches.
• When the chicken is browned, remove it from the pan.
• Add the onions, the celery, and 1 tsp. red pepper flakes to the pan, stir, and season lightly with salt. Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
• Mince the parsley.
• Add the crushed tomatoes to the onions, stir, then add the minced parsley and the rosemary sprigs and cook for 5 minutes.
• Put the chicken breasts into the pan with the tomato sauce, along with any juices, pushing it down into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer – you might have to increase the heat.
• Make sure the sauce is at a steady simmer, cover the chicken, and cook for 20 minutes.
• Whisk the polenta into the boiling, salted water in the large saucepan.
• Keep whisking until the polenta thickens, and turn down the heat if it starts popping out of the pan at you. Cook and whisk the polenta for 5 minutes. Take the polenta off the stove and whisk in the melted butter and the ½ cup Parmigiano. Cover and forget about it for now.
• Make the vinaigrette for the salad now: Put 1 tbsp. vinegar into a bowl, and whisk in a pinch of salt and 1 tsp. mustard.
• Whisk in the shallot, then whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil. Taste it for seasoning. Put the lettuce leaves in the bowl, but DON’T TOSS THEM YET!
• Set the table and check your Facebook and Twitter.
• Check the chicken – it should be cooked all the way through. If it isn’t, leave it on the heat for another 5 minutes or so.
• Transfer the polenta to a bowl, remove the bay leaf, and garnish with some herb sprigs.
• Now you can toss, toss, toss the salad.
• Remove the rosemary sprigs from the chicken and either serve it in the pan or transfer it to a large, shallow platter, and garnish with herb sprigs.
• Get some help taking everything to the table. Don’t forget the wine!