.......to Bennigans!! This recipe is an old throwback to my younger days when I worked at Bennigans! I have to say that it was one of my most favorite jobs! I was a waitress and it was the first of the Bennigan's/Chili's/Applebee's type of restaurant....and every day at 5 pm the line of people wanting to get in was wrapped around the restaurant! The wait staff had to wear hats...and I had such a great time making and finding fun hats to wear. Oh....sorry.....back to the recipe!
They had two versions....Smothered Steak and Smothered Chicken. Both meats were grilled, topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions, then covered in cheese and baked to bubbling perfection. It was one of my favorite things on our menu! I've seen a few recipes on the internet...most call for bacon...and I can assure you there was no bacon in these smothered dishes. This is the closest I've come to what I used to order almost every time I went in....that is, if I didn't order the nachos!!!
I had several chicken breasts that I'd bought at Harris Teeter (TIP: They are ALWAYS $1.99 a pound in the butcher's case...always). I sliced them into cutlets...
....sprinkled them with salt and pepper, then I put them into a hot grill pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil. I cooked them long enough to get nice grill marks.
Then I set them aside in separate baking dishes and melted some butter in the pan and added diced shallots and mushrooms...
I sauteed them long enough to soften them, then added some Madeira wine...
...and let the alcohol cook off until it thick and bubbly...
...then I spooned them over the chicken......
....and topped it with Muenster cheese, which is mild, smooth and melts beautifully!
Then I put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes....just long enough to melt the cheese and get the buttery sauce bubbling around the edges.
It was delicious, served with roasted asparagus.....and a Vidal Blanc. Thanks for the memories, Bennigan's.....we miss you around these parts!
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