This is another one from Cooking Light magazine, which has turned out to be a great source of flavourful, crowd pleasing dishes. I assume they're healthy too, you know, cause it's called Cooking Light. That said, their homepage currently features a parade of cream pie recipes, so you know, I could have been duped. Anything is possible.
What you'll need:
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
2 sage sprigs
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Fresh sage leaves
Directions:
1. The first thing you are supposed to do is place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound it to 1/4 -inch thickness. I don't own a meat pounder thingy and thought I could get away with just using something heavy in my kitchen + my own brute strength. Turns out it doesn't work that way. This means I was working with normal sized chicken breasts.
2. Then take the chicken, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, dredge it in flour and saute it for 4 minutes on each side until it is done. Since I was working with a thicker cut of chicken, I browned it for about 2 minutes on each side (which gave it quite a nice crust) and then popped it in the oven to finish it off. This took about 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
While your pounded chicken is resting, or your not-pouned chicken is finishing off in the oven, you can get moving on the sauce.
3. Add butter and sage sprigs to pan; cook over medium heat until butter browns. Be careful to brown it slowly and not burn it! Discard sage. Add shallots and thyme; cook for 30 seconds. Add lemon juice; cook for 30 seconds.
4. Serve with chicken. Garnish with sage leaves (I also garnished with lemon and thyme).
Verdict:
This was yummy! I think it would have been easier and better if I had followed the directions and pounded it. Guess I need to take a trip to Williams Sonoma. Oh, the hardship! I served this on a Friday night when the Robeau and I had our friend Brian over for dinner along with some Roasted Asparagus (done in olive oil, garlic and lemon) and Buttermilk Mashed Sweet Potatoes. If I can get my act together with the whole pounding thing, this will be nice in the summer with a green salad.
Let me know if you give this recipe a try. I could also use your tips on pounding meat. Get your minds out of the gutter. Seriously. I mean it.
sounds so yummy but I don't have a meat pounder either :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a meat pounder, and I don't mean Special Agent (badump-bum). However, a rolling pin works too. A skillet will also work.
ReplyDeletewww.alotoflayers.blogspot.com
a hammer works well
ReplyDeleteYou can also just butterfly the chicken breast instead of pounding it.
ReplyDelete