So Many Dishes

The title of this post is a homage to my paternal grandmother on this Mother’s Day weekend. When I’ve talked about cooking with my grandmother, I’ve been referring to my maternal grandmother. Gammy, as I called my Dad’s mother (I apparently couldn’t say “Grammy” when I started to talk, and the name stuck), was not a very good cook. She would cook a steak to shoe leather, and her pie crust was always tough. She did learn to make homemade ravioli from my Italian grandfather’s sister, although my grandfather said that my mother made better sauce. I wonder what it says that, aside from the ravioli, the food I associate with eating in my grandmother’s kitchen was jello.

Gammy was quiet, not overly demonstrative. I don’t think I ever saw her angry. When she was happy, you’d get a smile, maybe a giggle. She and my grandfather attended every school performance I was part of, including college, and I knew they were proud of me, but it was never expressed verbally. At the most, Gammy would say “not too bad.”

“Not too bad” has become our family’s code for high praise. My dad would actually tease his mother about it, when she would compliment a holiday dinner my mom had made with the phrase. It’s become something of a family tradition; I remember a number of Christmas dinners that I cooked when, at the end, my dad would grin and announce, “well, that was not TOO bad!”

The rosemary-prosciutto chicken with potatoes that I made last evening would definitely have earned the accolade from my dad. Ken and I definitely agreed that the dish deserves it.

The recipe is one that I haven’t made in a couple of years. It’s from one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks: The All-New Chicken Cookbook. Weight Watchers stopped publishing cookbooks a few years ago, so I feel as if the ones I still have are collector’s items. Truthfully, the recipes in their older cookbooks were terrible. Portions were tiny and seasoning was almost nonexistent. But the recipes definitely improved, and a few are among our favorites, such as the salmon in phyllo I’ve written about. The books remain great resources.

This is a sheet pan recipe, with ingredients added in three steps. The seasoned potatoes go into the oven first, then the chicken breasts that are topped with prosciutto, and, finally, the cherry tomatoes. I found the cherry tomatoes on the vine that the recipe calls for, but regular grape or cherry tomatoes work just as well. The vine does make for a pretty presentation, though.

Rosemary-Prosciutto Chicken with Potatoes

• 1 pound gold or red baby potatoes, halved
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 large sprigs plus 4 small sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 (5-ounce) skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 4 thin slices prosciutto
• 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes on the vine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large rimmed sheet pan with foil.

In a medium bowl, mix potatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread evenly over the sheet pan. Place the large rosemary sprigs on the pan, among the potatoes. Roast for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place a small rosemary sprig on each chicken breast. Top each with one slice of prosciutto, folded into thirds.

Remove pan from oven and carefully place chicken among the potatoes. Return to oven and roast 15 minutes.

Remove pan and place tomatoes in pan. Return to oven and continue roasting until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

As is probably obvious from the photos, I the amount of chicken for just the two of us. I did not, however, reduce the quantities of potatoes and tomatoes. I’m happy having veggie leftovers. In fact, the bag of baby potatoes that I bought was 24 ounces, and I cooked all of them. I didn’t weigh the tomatoes; I probably had more of them, too. By the time we finished dinner, I was wondering why we don’t make this more often.

Happy eating!