Chicken Francese

When I took over cooking duties in my home this was one of the first recipes I tried. It is simple and the results are fantastic.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cups chicken broth (Two small cans (14.5 oz) of College Inn Chicken Broth will do. Stay away from light/fat-free broths…they are as tasty as tap water.)
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in some cold water. (You may find that you need another tablespoon of cornstarch.)

DIRECTIONS

1. Coat the chicken with flour, then the egg beat, then saute in oil (olive oil is fine) a large skillet until almost cooked through. Chicken should be a very light brown in color. “Doneness” is a function of how thin you sliced the chicken. Place cooked chicken in a large, deep platter.

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. (Don’t forget to remove anything you store in your oven BEFORE turning it on.)

3. In a medium saucepan (2-quart is about right) combine the wine, broth, salt and pepper to taste, butter or margarine and lemon juice over medium low heat. Stir together while heating slowly. When butter or margarine has melted, slowly stir in cornstarch until sauce thickens slightly.

A Cornstarch Trick: Always dissolve the cornstarch is in a small quantity of water and then pour that mixture into the saucepan. Doing it this way prevents lumps from forming.

4. Pour sauce on the chicken. (You placed it in that oven-safe deep dish…right?)

5. Bake at 300 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Options/Variations

Spinach: Fresh spinach is a great addition. Cover the chicken with as much spinach as you can get into your dish. Fresh spinach will tend to spring back up so push it down on the chicken to sort of flatten it out. Pour the sauce over it…then bake. The spinach will absorb a lot of that lemony flavor. Fish or Shrimp: You can substitute a mild fish – tilapia, catfish – or shrimp. The fish, of course, will require a gentle hand when turning over to saute. Be warned that if the fish is over baked it will tend to fall apart. Don’t use precooked shrimp.

Additional Comments

1. This tastes great reheated so save those leftovers.

2. This recipe scales well…I’ve cooked it for twenty people.

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