Chicken Francese
Chicken Francese is inspired by a timeless classic scaloppine that has a buttery lemon sauce. Makes for an impressive date night.
I love a good savory lemon dish, this Chicken Francese uses lemon 2 ways. First using the zest and juice in the sauce and then the pan-fried lemon slices as a garnish. Those lemon slices are so good I found myself eating them with the chicken.
Start with a thin chicken cutlet which means you get to eat quicker. Season at every step with salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs with water which helps break down the proteins and won’t toughen the chicken as it cooks.
This dish is reverse of a normal flour breaded cutlet. For chicken francese you will bread the chicken first with flour and then dip them int the egg mixture. Using the egg last procedure gives the chicken such a unique texture and taste.
Making the sauce requires a thickener. Cubing the butter and tossing it with the flour means you only need to do 1 step when making the sauce. Just stash the floured butter cubes in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
I served the chicken francese with roasted broccoli and a twice baked potato casserole.
Chicken Francese
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken breast-boneless and skinless
- 2 Tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 Tsp Pepper
- 1 Lg Lemon
- 4 Tbsp Butter-divided
- 3/4 Cup All-purpose flour-divided
- 3 Eggs
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1/3 Cup Olive oil
- 1/3 Cup Vegetable oil
- 1 Clove Garlic-minced
- 1/3 Cup White wine
- 1 1/2 Cups Chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp Fresh parsley-chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200'
- Cut chicken breast in half horizontally. Pound each 1/2 breast to 1/4" thickness using a ziploc bag or plastic wrap to pound out the chicken breast. Salt and pepper chicken and set aside for 15 minutes.
- Zest 1 half of the lemon. Cut the lemon in half and juice the zested half. The other half cut into 4 rounds. set aside
- Cut 3 tablespoons of butter into 1/2" cubes and toss with 1 teaspoon until butter is coated with flour and no flour remains in the small bowl. Put in fridge until needed.
- Put a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Spread the remaining flour in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish whisk eggs with water. Dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking to remove excess flour. transfer to wire rack.
- Heat oils in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working with 1 chicken cutlet at a time coat in egg wash and place in skillet. You might need to cook in 2 batches. Reduce heat to medium and cook on 1 side for about 3 minutes until golden brown flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
- Discard the oil and wipe out the skillet with paper towels. Return skillet to heat and add lemon slices along with rest of the butter. Cook flipping until lightly browned on both sides about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add garlic to empty skillet, cook stirring constantly until fragrant. Be careful that it doesn't burn. About 30 seconds. Stir in wine and scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a rapid simmer and cook until wine is mostly evaporated. About 3 minutes.
- Stir in broth and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally. Until liquid is reduced to 2/3 cup, about 8 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in zest and juice. Whisk in floured butter cubes a couple at a time. Sauce with thicken to the consistency of heavy cream this takes about 2 minutes. Off heat stir in parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut lemon slices in half and scatter over cutlets. Spoon sauce over cutlets and serve!