Cold Winter Nights and Hearty, Warm Food

I definitely do not have snow like so many others around but we do have cold temperatures. I am back to working 10 hour days/6 days a week. I am fixing dinners that are one pot dishes after work because my commute is taking 2 hours to get home. This leaves me 3 hours before I have to go to bed and start all over again. I can't believe I just typed before I have to go to bed! This is a self-imposed bedtime but it is funny that when I was growing up, I just knew when I left home I would stay up all night and no one would issue rules. I think I have more self-imposed rules now then what I did when I lived at home. Not a warm, fuzzy thought. =D

Dinner tonight: Skillet Creole Chicken Fricassee (I just love that word "Fricassee". Kind of like a bugs Bunny cartoon word)

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds). halved crosswise

3 t. Creole seasoning

8 ounces andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch rounds

3 T. vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

Directions:

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning. Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towel line plate, leaving fat in skillet. Cook chicken in sausage fat until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate with sausage.

Add oil, onion, celery, and pepper to now empty skillet and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and remaining Creole seasoning and cook until flour begins to brown, about 1 minute.

Slowly stir in broth until smooth. Return chicken and sausage to skillet. Cover and simmer until chicken registers 160 degrees, about 10 minutes.