Blizzard Chicken

For those of you who don't live in the Buckeye state, or who haven't heard about it on the news, we had a blizzard over the weekend! It was pretty wild. When I left for work on Friday morning there was no precipitation at all. By Saturday evening, 20 inches of snow had fallen. In the first two photos, it's a little difficult to get some perspective on what you're looking at because pretty much everywhere you look is snow. But the first photo shows our grill buried in snow on our back deck. The second photo shows my car buried in snow on the street. The third photo shows the dinner we had on Saturday, after Jason finished shoveling.

The veggies are a frozen bagged "potato medley" from Trader Joe's. They were easy to make (microwave!) and pretty tasty, but would have been better if the carrots could have been as tender as the potatoes.

The other item on the plate (which almost looks like it could be mashed potatoes) is "Parmesan Chicken Saute." The recipe came from a cookbook called The Best of the Best from Ohio. I have issues with the name, because although the chicken is sauted, it gets covered in a cream sauce and is then baked, so I think "saute" in the title is a little misleading. In honor of this weekend's events, I'm renaming it "Blizzard Chicken." It was pretty tasty and I would definitely consider making it again. By the way, I substituted boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the chicken pieces.

2 1/2 -- 3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
salt and pepper to taste
4 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, grated
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons bread crumbs

Brown seasoned chicken pieces for 20 minutes in 3 tablespoons butter. In a small pan, melt remaining butter and add flour; add milk and cream. Boil until thickened and smooth. Stir in nutmeg and Swiss cheese. Sprinkle a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with 1/2 the Parmesan cheese. Place browned chicken pieces in pan and spoon sauce over the chicken. Cover with the remaining Parmesan and bread crumbs, mixed together. Bake for 1/2 hour in a 350 degree oven.