Today’s Guest Post is from Jamie, an adorable young woman from Boston who reminds me of myself at her age. She is enthusiastic, excited about the future with her fiance, and finds joy in every moment of life.
She come from an Italian-American home and is just as passionate about food as I am. I love that she has a little of everything on her blog. She has old family favorites that she grew up eating like the incredible Sausage Bread and Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini Boats. But she also has delightfully challenging dishes from French and other cuisines. There is truly something for everyone.
When you cook for your family every night, it is easy to get into a pattern of making the same dishes over and over. Jamie belongs to several food blogging clubs, including French Fridays with Dorie, that challenge her to go beyond her comfort zone and explore different cuisines and techniques. If you tend to get in cooking ruts, joining one of these groups is a terrific way of having to answer to someone else which makes me more likely to focus on being creative in the kitchen.
Hi everyone! My name is Jamie and I blog over at Cookin’ with Moxie. I was psyched when Jane asked me to guest post because I am a huge fan of her blog. I started brainstorming about what I would make right away. Since Jane is known as The Heritage Cook, I knew I had to make something Italian-American since that is my heritage.
Chicken Francese was very much a part of my childhood growing up in New York. Believe it or not it was not something that my mother cooked, but rather it was a staple at any catered party I attended.
Chicken Francese on Long Island is like Chicken Parmesan everywhere else. I am not sure why this is the case, but nevertheless, it is. You may be asking yourself, “Isn’t that just Chicken Piccata without the capers?” The answer is: almost. This chicken has an egg batter whose flavor really follows through to the finished product. There are no capers but there is a lemon sauce. If you scan the ingredient list below and love everything you see, you’ll love this dish.
One of my favorite things about this particular recipe is that there is plenty of lemony buttery sauce to go around. I hate when you have to ration out how much sauce goes with each bite. You can’t be stingy in the sauce department.
I served this chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed green beans to round out the meal. It certainly would go great with rice and another veggie as well. The presentation of the lemon slices over the chicken is fancy enough for a dinner party and of course welcoming as a weeknight meal.
It is very important to have all of your ingredients prepped before you start cooking. If your chicken breasts are nice and thin, they will cook up in a matter of minutes. You don’t want to chance overcooking your chicken just because you had to run back to the fridge for one more ingredient. All in all, this dish comes together rather quickly so you’ll have a delicious dinner on the table in no time at all!
- 4 skinless, boneless, thin chicken breasts* (about 1-1/2 lb)
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp flour, divided
- 3 large eggs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, with rind, cut in thin rounds
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Prepare to Cook Chicken: Fill a shallow pie plate with 1/2 cup of flour. In another shallow pie plate, crack 3 eggs and beat with a fork. Lay your chicken breasts on a platter and season both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off. Work quickly to get all four of the chicken breasts prepared.
- Cook Chicken: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and fry for 3 to 5 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through, turning once. Remove the chicken to a large platter to keep warm. You may have to do this in two batches if all of your chicken does not fit in one pan.
- Place your lemon slices in the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine, chicken broth and lemon juice. Scrape up any bits off the bottom of the pan. Let simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly.
- In the meantime, combine the remaining 1 tbsp of flour with the butter in a small bowl. Mash it with a fork until there is no loose flour left. Add the butter mixture to the pan and incorporate it into the sauce until it starts to thicken.
- Once the flour is completely dissolved, turn the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan. Place the lemon slices on top of the chicken. Simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.
- Yield: Serves 2 Italians or 4 non-Italians :o)
- You can buy thin chicken breasts at the supermarket. If you would like to pound them out yourself, check out how to do so in this video.
Tutti Mangia!
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Thank You!
Jamie @ Cookin' with Moxie]
I love the kind words! Thank you for making me look so good!
= )
Tammy
Oh my gosh, I grew up on Long Island and one of the things I missed most was the signature chicken franchese – it is more like a chicken parm. Now I can make it myself and show everyone what I meant. This sounds absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to make it – nice presentation, too!