Cast Iron Chef: Marie served Farmhouse Chicken and Hominy Stew to guests at the 13th annual Afternoon in the Country.
Sunday, November third was one of those exquisitely beautiful fall days when you just fall in love with everything. And it was the perfect day for Serenbe to host the 13th annual Afternoon in the Country, benefitting the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International.
It was also a blur. And of all the wonderful chefs, restaurants, shops, farms and distributors that brought food, I had time to eat two things: Miller Union chef Steven Satterfield’s roasted butternut squash with fried quail egg and Gunshow chef Kevin Gillespie’s “off Sunday sandwich,” a fabulous play on a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich.
Of course I also tasted my own dish: Farmhouse chicken and hominy stew. I was inspired to create it after reading a Wall Street Journal article on hominy. I love it and think it’s an amazing side dish, though it’s a Southern ingredient people don’t use very much anymore.
More than 900 people came out to support the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International
So I started thinking about what I could do with it for Les Dames and came up with hominy stew with chicken confit, sautéed red pepper, scallions, Serenbe Farms braised cabbage and a Belle Meade Bourbon cream sauce with a little paprika sprinkled on top.
I know this sounds crazy, but I like to experiment with a new dish every year. I don’t even test it before I put it out for 900 people. I just like to wing it and somehow it always works.
FARMHOUSE CHICKEN AND HOMINY STEW
6 boneless,skinless chicken breast
8 tablespoons butter
3 cups napa cabbage,chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 29 oz can hominy
1/2 cup bourbon
2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and pepper
Put hominy with juice in a small pan and place on low heat to heat through while preparing vegetables and chicken.
Heat another small skillet. Add bourbon and very carefully ignite with a match to flame. Allow flame to subside, then add cream. Cook on low and sauce will thicken as cooking remainder of ingredients.
As nearing finish time on vegetables, add Dijon mustard and readjust seasoning to taste.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large cast iron skillet. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Sauté the breasts in the butter 4-6 min each side. Remove from skillet and place in a pan and keep warm in low degree oven- 200.
And remaining butter and melt. Add cabbage and carrots and sauté until softened. add green onions and sauté additional 2-3 min. Season with salt and pepper.
To assemble:
Drain hominy and add to vegetables.Remove chicken from oven and cut into strips. Add to vegetables. Mix bourbon cream sauce into chicken and vegetable mixture.
Serve in bowls.