lemon chicken with polenta

so this is a variation on a recipe from the wonderful, oh-so-new-york-cynical mark bittman from his book how to cook everything. his recipes usually call for very little that you wouldn't have lying around. this chicken recipe is fabulous -- lemony, leeky, and chickeny, which are three things that go together perfectly. kinda like pete burch, knee-high striped socks, and insane hair, but that's another story.

chicken:

4 tablespoons Olive oil/butter

two leeks, white part minced

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cupr chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon thyme or tarragon

4 chicken breasts

2 tablespoons lemon juice

salt and pepper (of course)

parsley to garnish

-heat olive oil in a skillet and add two minced leeks and cook for about 5 minutes until they are soft.

-add wine, stock and herb and bring to a boil for a minute or two.

-add chicken and cover and cook till the chicken is barely cooked through, 5-6 minutos

-remove chicken with a slotted spoon and keep warm while you cook the sauce on high so it reduces to desired thickness, turn it down to medium-low and add lemon juice, and stir in some butter, about 2 tablespoons

-return chicken to sauce, crank up heat to cook chicken thru and serve with parsley on top!

I usually add a little more of everything for this recipe -- more wine, more stock esp., because I like a lot of sauce on the chicken.

Polenta:

3 cups water

3cups milk

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 teaspoon salt

cornmeal

-simmer water, milk, butter, salt, and bay leaf in iron skillet until small bubbles appear on edges

-add cornmeal by the handfuls, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens to the consistency of Cream of Wheat -- thickish, but smooth and creamy

-remove bay leaf and serve