Chicken Breasts With Mushrooms

Make the mushroom topping: Slice the mushrooms, or, if they\'re small, quarter them. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and about 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. In a couple of minutes, they\'ll be sizzling and moist. They\'re releasing their own water, which will mostly evaporate.

When most of the liquid has evaporated, add the garlic, rosemary and thyme. Stir together for about half a minute, until you smell the garlic cooking. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until most of the wine has evaporated.

Add 1-1/4 cups of the broth, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste. Is there enough flavor? Add more salt or garlic if not. Grind in some pepper and toss.

The mushrooms shouldn\'t be glazed and the mixture shouldn\'t be watery; cook a few more minutes if it is. On the other hand, if it seems dry, add more broth. Keep warm while you cook the chicken breasts.

To pan-cook the chicken: Toss the chicken breasts with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Heat the grill pan or the skillet you used to cook the mushrooms after cleaning it and drying it over medium-high heat. Drop a bit of water into the pan; if it sizzles away at once, the skillet is hot enough.

Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook until golden, 3-5 minutes per side. Check one breast to make sure that it is cooked all the way through (it should no longer be pink in the middle). Remove from the heat and transfer to plates or a platter. Spoon on the mushroom mixture, sprinkle with the parsley or other herbs, and serve.