Chicken Tonnato

I have no idea what I was thinking when I chose this recipe. Really. Did I not read the recipe? I mean, I had to write down the ingredients to buy them at the store. Maybe I was just a little scatterbrained? But who thought tuna covered chicken would be good? 

Apparently chicken tonnato is an Italian dish. Tonnato actually means "tuna" in Italian. The Italians have made famous a lot of great foods: breadsticks, minestrone, any kind of pasta....This, however, is NOT one of those things. I feel like I shouldn't even bother writing this post, it was that weird, but I don't want to make this a blog about only good recipes. We all fail sometimes. McDonald's is there for when you do (yes, we took advantage of the $13 for 2 cheeseburgers, 20 chicken nuggets, and 2 medium fries deal after we tried this). 

• 1 1/4 cups stock
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp white wine
• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 7 oz can tuna fish, drained
• 4 Tbsp thick mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp natural yogurt
• capers
• black olives
• watercress

Put the stock, onion, lemon slices, bay leaves, seasonings and white wine into a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes.  Add the pieces of chicken, bring slowly back to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Let stand in the stock until cold. Alternatively, place in a microwave on high for 6 minutes; turn over and cook a further 5-6 minutes. 

Drain the pieces of chicken thoroughly and stand on a serving dish. Strain off the onion and puree in a food processor or blender with the tuna until smooth. Add the mayonnaise and yogurt and blend until smooth. Season the sauce to taste and spoon over the pieces of chicken, coating them completely. 

Garnish with capers, black olives and watercress and serve with a salad. 

NOTES: Eating chicken cold is a weird thing to me. I know people put it on salads, but in this case, it's just there. And cold. No salad. Tyler and I decided some of the other weirdness of this recipe comes from the texture and the fact that your mouth knows you're eating chicken, but then it tastes like tuna in your mouth. It's a bit discombobulating. 

Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes, plus cooling

Recipe from 50 Great Chicken Recipes by Rosemary Wadey