Recipe #7 - Chicken Franceseseseses

From Portugal we travel across the great Spanish countryside and arrive a week later in France.  Why did it take me a week to get across Spain?  First, my rental car was confiscated at the Portugal/Spanish border for not having the correct paperwork (Damn you Rent a Wreck!).   After walking for a day or two in the hot Spanish sun, I needed to find a quicker method of travel.  Then I saw this sign in a store window of a small village:

 

 I inquired to the shop keep when the next running would occur and he said, "It is today.  If you wish to run you must wear the traditional white clothing with red scarf.  I can sell them to you for a small fee".  So I bought the clothes, entered the run and was chased all the way to France. 

People think Marathons are hard.  Try being chased by a bull while running across Spain.  And there were no kids handing out orange slices or cups of water.  For shame Spain, for shame.

If you're still reading this, I commend you on your persistence in waiting to get to the recipe.  If you decided to skip over the nonsense above, you missed out on a wonderful tale.  Now on to the cooking.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-francese-recipe/index.html

If you click the link above you will notice that there is no picture.  This is the first recipe I have attempted that does not include a picture so it worried me a bit.  Does this mean that Tyler's food was not picture worthy?  Did the photographer have the day off or called in sick?  Did no one at the food network have the ability to take a picture and upload it to the website?  I find it hard to believe that in 2011 a picture would not be provided on a website to show the food.  How would I know what this is supposed to look like?   So many unanswered questions.

But alas, I push forward with all my previous experience.  And by the the end of this recipe you will have photos to compare your cooking to as well.  Let's start with one now.

Simple list of ingredients and of course the peeps are back for an encore performance.  If this picture was bigger you could see the wine cost less than $5.  I was pretty happy to find a bottle of Pinot Grigio for under 5 bones.  Why spend more when you're just using it for cooking.  Ok, well we drank it as well cause we couldn't let the rest go to waste.  Wasn't too bad.  Tasted at least like an $8 bottle.

Just like with the Chicken Marsala recipe, I decided to buy the thin sliced cutlets instead of pounding the breasts with my meat mallet.  It saves time and they cost about the same.  But if you'd rather take the time to pound breasts with your meat mallet then go for it.

As with most recipes you need to get your mieces and pieces together.

Seasoned flour on the left and Eggs on the right.  If you thought the eggs were on the left then you shouldn't be cooking, or you need to adjust the contrast and color of your monitor.   A shallow bowl works best for this so you can coat the entire breast at once.

One lemon prepared two ways.  Thinly sliced and juiced.  It's not juiced yet, but it will be soon. 

Let's get that chicken cooking in the olive oil.  Dip it in the flour and then the egg and then to the hot pan.  Depending on the thickness of the breast and heat of the oil it only takes a few minutes per side.  You want to get them to a nice golden hue like this.

Happy little cutlets dancing in the oil of olives.   

Once you have cooked the chicken (may have to do this in batches), put it aside and cook the lemon slices.

If you connect the lemons you get.....

A Pentalemonagram! - The religious symbol for the worship of lemons.

After praying to the lemon gods, add the liquid ingredients and cook for a bit to form a sauce.  Add butter and some flour to thicken.  Once it thickens up, add the chicken to the sauce.  Should look something like this.

The sauce has a consistency of gravy.  Season it with some salt and pepper to your taste.

And that's it!  Fairly simple recipe.  I decided to serve it over a bed of linguine surrounded by a nest of french cut green beans.

You can't eat the lemon but it looks nice on top of the chicken.  Impress your family and friends with this one.

If I had to sum up this recipe in one word it would be "lemony."  Is that even a real word?  Can you add a "y" to the end of words to make them adjectives?  I'll have to consult the wife on this one.  For those of you who don't know, she's an accomplished, tenured, and award winning English teacher in a town that I cannot reveal to protect her and the schools identity.  

And while on the subject of my wife, she thoroughly enjoyed this dish.  Much more her taste than last weeks fish stew.  I enjoyed it as well.  The flavors blend well and leave me wanting more.  Good thing, cause it made enough for 2 nights which is why this received the coveted 4 clean plates of approval!

and a baby in shades

Next recipe:  Coq Au Vin

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/coq-au-vin-recipe2/index.html