Annette's Cranberry Chicken

When I thought of what my wedding would be like, I always wanted to have my wedding shower guests share recipes with me.  As my mom was planning my wedding shower (along with the help of Erin and Stephanie, my sister-in-law Melissa, and my cousins Annette and Natalie), she asked Alissa at Mew Paper Arts to design the invitations, complete with a blank recipe card for guests to bring along with them to the shower.

Much to my delight, my guests arrived at my shower last August with recipe cards in tow!  The shower was at the Dish Restaurant in my hometown.  It was simple and perfect, just as I had always imagined it would be.

My cousin and godmother, Annette, made the trip all the way from Minnesota to share the special day with me.  I have always admired Annette.  She's beautiful, smart, and witty...and ridiculously stylish.  I hate to admit that I am terrible about keeping in touch.  Annette, however, has always sent cards and packages for my birthday and Christmas each year.  Every year I tell myself I will do better at keeping in touch...it's certainly not because I don't care.  We asked Annette to present our wedding rings at our ceremony last August.  We were so very glad to have her there that day.  She, by the way, looked smashing in a ivory, purple, and brown dress...a perfect compliment to our ivory and brown wedding.  

http://www.jakeholtphotography.com/

A while back, I tried one of the recipes that Annette brought to the shower.  I loved that she included a note that she had received the same recipe at her own shower. Annette's Cranberry Chicken is delicious!  We had it along with some whole wheat stuffing.  Next time I make this dish, I think I'll see how it is with little less butter when browning the chicken.  Cutting some out has really helped as Chris and I watch our weight. And, I think I'll try dredging the chicken in whole wheat flour, too.  But, I went all out and followed the recipe on its maiden voyage.  Yum! I hope you'll try this recipe, too.  It's comfort food at it's best. With a salad and side dish, it would be the perfect Sunday dinner!

Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and brown in the skillet with butter.  As you can see, I cut the chicken into chunks rather than flattening it out.  We only had 3 breast halves, so I thought the pieces would strectch it out a bit. The chicken cooks up to a gorgeous golden brown.  Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside.

The cranberries, water, brown sugar, and nutmeg are next.  Combine them in your hot skillet and drool as you see it blend together.

After the cranberries burst and the sauce looks all bubbly and delicious, add the chicken back to the skillet, baste, then cover.  Let the chicken hang out and simmer for about 20 minutes, basting occasionally.  This is a great time to prepare your side dishes!  I took a shortcut and prepared my Stove Top Whole Wheat Stuffing.  It's pretty much against everything I stand for...you know, being processed and artificial and all, but it does pack some fiber and it's pretty darn tasty.

I put a few scoops of stuffing on our plates and layered the chicken on top.  Make sure to spoon on some extra cranberry sauce.  It was soooooo good!