Works for Me Wednesday III

This is a little trick I made up to help keep my kitchen from disaster when I pound meat.

I lay down a sheet of heavy duty aluminium foil and place the meat I am going to pound on top, leaving a couple of inches around the outside. I put a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the meat and then crimp up the edges of the foil to form a seal and then pound away! It doesn't work if you use the tenderizer side of the mallet, because that tends to pierce through the plastic wrap, but for pounding, it really works great. No more raw meat juices all over the counter and the surrounding area.

Here's the recipe I made the other night that gave me the idea for this week's Works- for-me-Wednesday entry:

Chicken Francese

Sauce:

3 T unsalted butter
1 very small onion, minced (1/3 c.) [I used an OSO sweet—could use a Texas Sweet or Vidalia. If using a cooking onion, reduce to ¼ c.]
½ c. dry white wine or vermouth [I used a California Sauvignon Blanc and served the rest of the bottle with dinner]
The fresh juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 c.)
2 ¼ c. sodium reduced chicken broth
Salt and pepper [don’t add salt if you are using salted butter and/or salted broth]

Chicken:

1 c. all purpose flour for dredging
2 eggs + 2 tsp milk beaten together for dredging
Dredge in this order, flour, egg, flour again
4 boneless chicken breast halves (6 – 8 oz. each) halved horizontally and beaten to ¼” thickness (I use a bag of frozen chicken tenders, thawed)
2 T unsalted butter
2 T extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3 T minced fresh parsley leaves [a bit of fresh mint is good, too!]

For the sauce [which should be made before the chicken]:

Heat 1 T butter in medium non-reactive saucepan over medium heat until foaming subsides. Add onion and sweat until translucent (about 2-3 minutes—don’t brown).
Add flour (about 2-3 T) and stir until light golden brown, about 1 minute.
Wisk in wine, broth, and lemon juice and increase heat to high and bring to a rolling boil, whisking constantly.
Reduce heat to medium high and cook until reduced to 1 ½ c. (about 10-15 minutes—whisking occasionally) [may add ½ t. dried lavender, rubbed between palms]
Strain sauce through mesh strainer and return to saucepan and set aside.

For the chicken:

Prepare two pie plates for dredging—one with flour, salt and pepper and the other with the egg bath.
Using tongs, dredge each piece first in flour (shaking off excess flour) then in egg mixture and then again in the flour.
Place prepared cutlets on wire rack.

Heat 1 T each butter and EVOO in a non-stick skillet. After foaming subsides, cook in batches until well browned, 1 ½ to 2 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until browned on second side (about 1 minute) [it took mine a bit longer to brown].
Transfer to wire rack, wipe out skillet with paper towels and repeat with remaining cutlets. Keep cutlets warm in 200 degree oven.
Transfer sauce to wiped-out skillet and heat on low until heated through.
Wisk in remaining 2 T butter and season with salt and pepper.
Turn each cutlet over in the sauce before plating.

Serve with fettucini noodles, using the rest of the sauce as a pour over sauce to dress the noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and lemon zest (and a bit of mint if you don't use lavender). Serve immediately.

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