Chicken in Vodka Sauce

If you’ve not had Vodka Sauce, it’s pretty amazing. Don’t let the pink-ish color turn you off. It’s not totally a chick sauce. It has VODKA in it….(In our case BAKON Vodka, because BAKON VODKA rocks, but any decent vodka will do). I’m going to make some with Nude Vodka for the Italian Benedicts (coming up next week) because I like the vodka, the bottle, the idea of nudity (We're old and cook with butter so we won't bore you with pictures) on a Sunday morning along with some great food... and they are some of our local Oregon peeps!
I had a really hard time explaining to Jerry that it is it’s own thing. Not some other Italian sauce with vodka in it. Finally I said “Go to the store and look at the bottles. You will see Marinara, Alfredo, Pomodoro and VODKA sauce. It’s the pink one honey”. Then he got it!

He did most of the making and it was wonderful! We poached eggs in the morning in the leftover sauce.

Chicken in Vodka Sauce

4 chicken breasts

Salt

Pepper

½ c Flour

1 tbs olive oil

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce or tomato puree

1 stick of butter

1 onion, diced

1/2 pt. heavy cream

1/2 c. vodka (I used BAKON VODKA for this but if you prefer traditional vodka we won’t hold it against you. I think Lemon Vodka would be pretty spiffy.)

First, get yourself a chicken. (Okay, sorry I couldn't resist. This is the way they sell chickens in the Saturday Market in La Rochelle, France. I thought it was cool in a weird sort of way and felt compelled to take a picture.)

Pound the chicken until it is approx 1/2 “ thick all the way around. (I think the head on this one is just tucked the wing so I would set it aside) Lightly salt and pepper both sides. Dredge the chicken in the flour. Heat the olive oil on medium and fry the chicken lightly on both sides until golden. Remove chicken and set aside.


Easy Vodka Sauce


1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce or tomato puree

1 stick of butter

1 onion, diced

1/2 pt. heavy cream

1/2 c. vodka


Melt the butter in a large (12” skillet/sauté pan) Saute onion in butter until translucent (clear-ish).

Add vodka and cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes.

Add tomato sauce and cook a couple more minutes.

Slowly add the cream and heat through but do not let it get to a boil.

Turn the heat down and return the chicken to the pan with the vodka sauce. Let simmer for 10 minutes

We served this with pene pasta, a salad and a Savignon Blanc.