Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 ounce dried mushrooms (such as shiitake, porcini, or oyster)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (or olive oil and butter, or just olive oil)
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves slightly flattened to even out size
1 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup whipping cream (or half & half or evaporated milk)
Grated fresh nutmeg
1/3 cup brandy (good earthy flavor with mushrooms; white wine works OK)
Boiled wide egg noodles
Chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Bring broth to simmer in small saucepan. Remove from heat; add dried mushrooms. Let stand until mushrooms soften, about 30 minutes. Drain mushrooms, reserving soaking liquid. Cut off mushroom stems and discard; slice caps.

Melt butter and/or oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Add chicken to skillet and sauté until almost cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer chicken to plate.

Add all mushrooms, onion and garlic to same skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until almost all liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 12 minutes. Consistency should be a paste.  Add cream, nutmeg and brandy.  Pour in reserved mushroom soaking liquid. Boil until almost thickened to sauce consistency, about 8 minutes. (Boiling denatures the cream and prevents curdling, separating, and spoiling.)

A few minutes after adding cream and brandy, add noodles to boiling salted water.

Return chicken and any collected juices to skillet. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.