Pan Roasted Chicken with a Mushroom Cream Sauce

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I think I'm starting to know how to cook!  I say that because just a few years ago even if I followed a recipe exactly I would still mess something up somehow.  But now I'm able to experiment and it
actually turn out!   The more I cook, the more I learn what herbs and spices blend well together.  What vegetables make good accents to a dish. And I know how to make a roux!!  I also learn things NOT to do.  Like confuse my powedered sugar and flour jars.

The more I cook, the more I realize how creative I can be.  The more I realize why culinary art is an ART.  The plate is my canvas.  Spices, vegetables, meats, herbs, broths and so many other ingredients are my "paints" and my kitchen utensils are my brushes.  I love being able to take a clear plate and an empty skillet and create something beautiful.  Though, I mjust admit, there have been many times my art looks and tastes more like a pile of goop than a picasso.  But I have learned.

This dish was inspired by Tyler Florence's Pan Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Rosemary.  I needed a reference point to start and then went out on my own.  I created my own version and it was delicious!

4  bone-in chicken breasts with skin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Whole head of garlic, top chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 shallots, halved
1lb mushrooms (portabella are my fave with this recipe)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Flour (eyeballed)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the chicken on both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Place a cast-iron skillet on the stove over medium heat. Drizzle the pan with the oil and lay the chicken in the hot fat, skin-side down. Cook for about 5 minutes until the skin begins to set and crisp. Throw in the mushrooms, shallots,garlic and rosemary. Stick the whole thing in the hot oven and roast for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked, and the mushrooms and shallots are soft and roasted.

Let the garlic cool a bit and gently squeeze it out of it's shell.  The last thing to make is a quick sauce using the flavors left in the bottom of the skillet. Take all the stuff out of the pan and arrange on a dinner plate to keep warm while preparing the pan sauce. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered chicken fat and return the skillet to the stovetop. Add flour (eyeball it) to desired thickness.  Keep whisking the sauce as you slowly add the flour.  Cook the liquid down for about 5 minutes. Drizzle the pan sauce over the dish, season with salt and pepper.