Chicken Florentine

About 15 years ago, give or take, my mother consolidated some of her tried and true recipes and assembled them into three-ring binder cookbooks and gave them to her daughters as Christmas gifts.  The cover of the binder read, “What’s made with the hands, comes from the heart…from my heart to yours.”  My mom’s cookbook or “Mom’s book” as I shall lovingly refer to it, was the most incredible gift and was the inspiration for my blog title. I learned how to cook by watching her and making the recipes she made. Over the years, when I came across a great recipe or created one of my own, I added to what my mom started. Even if these recipes never actually got 3-hole punched and placed within the binder tabs, the loose file of recipes are no doubt part of my “Mom’s book”.    

My mom and I talk a lot about food and cooking. We talk about what we made for dinner the night before and what we are going to make over the weekend and what fun new recipes we tried from Pinterest. I love that I can call her when I can’t remember how many minutes per pound to roast meat or what cut of meat to buy or to ask for her perfect pie crust recipe?  My mom is a great cook and there is nothing like a meal cooked by my mom. One of my favorites of hers is Chicken Florentine.  For me, it’s the ultimate comfort food next to tacos, chili and salad (yes, I said salad…I love salads!). There’s something about her cooking, even if I follow her every direction and use the exact same ingredients, my version just isn’t as good as when she makes it. So that being said, I thought it would be fitting, in honor of my mom who continues to teach me how to cook, that the first recipe shared on my blog would be one of hers. I love you Mom.  Enjoy!

Chicken Florentine

Serves 6

• 2        10oz. packages frozen Spinach, chopped
• 3        Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, halved
• 1½ c   Half and Half
• 1 c      Parmesan cheese, grated
• 6T       Butter, melted
• ¼ c     Flour (seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika)

Cook Spinach according to package directions. Squeeze and drain spinach well and transfer to a medium sized bowl.  Add ¾ cup parmesan cheese and the half and half and mix. Transfer the creamed spinach mixture into a buttered 11x17 inch baking dish.

Place melted butter and seasoned flour in separate shallow dishes for dredging. Dredge chicken pieces in melted butter and then in the seasoned flour. Lay Chicken in a single layer on top of the creamed spinach.  Top chicken with the remaining grated parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of paprika and additional salt and pepper to taste.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve over Basmati Rice.