August 15: Chicken in Puttanesca Sauce over Creamy Polenta

2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup whole milk
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 packages (1 3/4 to 2 pounds) chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tin flat anchovy fillets, drained
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
20 oil-cured black olives, cracked away from pits and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1 28-ounce can chunky-style crushed tomatoes, such as Furmano's brand
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup quick-cooking polenta
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

To start the creamy polenta, in a sauce pot over medium-high heat combine the chicken stock and milk and season with salt and pepper. Bring up to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low.

While the stock and milk are heating, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the EVOO. Season the chicken chunks with salt and pepper. Add to the hot skillet and cook until lightly brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate, cover with aluminum foil, and reserve. Return the skillet to the cook top; add the remaining 3 tablespoons of EVOO. Add the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes.

Saute the mixture until the anchovies melt into the oil and completely dissolve and the garlic becomes tender, about 3 minutes. Add the olives, capers, tomatoes, black pepper, and parsley.

Bring the sauce to a bubble, add the chicken back to the pan, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

To the simmering chicken stock and milk add the polenta and whisk constantly until the cornmeal masses together, 2 minutes. Add the butter and grated cheese, stirring to combine. Keep in mind that polenta is very forgiving: if it becomes too thick, you can always add more stock or milk.

Serve the polenta in shallow bowls and top with a helping of the chicken and puttanesca sauce.

4 SERVINGS

This meal is very tasty, probably because it's loaded with fat. My diabetes educator lectured me today on the dangers of fat to my blood sugar, so I felt a little guilty eating all this butter and oil. I did cut back on the oil a little, but not much. I used 1% milk instead of whole, but I don't know that that helped much either. I couldn't find flat anchovies in the store, so I just bought the rolled kind. The polenta was very good. I usually use cornmeal instead of polenta, but my cornmeal is old, so it always tasted stale. This instant polenta I bought tasted much fresher. I changed to Parmesan from Parmigiano-Reggiano. I would also have rearranged the order of the recipe to cook the chicken first, then heat your milk and stock, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't boil over.