Proud Italian Cook

Chicken Francese with Angel Hair Pasta

January 26, 2023 by Marie 3 Comments

Chicken Francese is an Italian-American dish that consists of thinly pounded chicken cutlets, dredged in flour then egg, then fast sautéed and which will ultimately end up in a delicious lemon, butter and wine sauce.

It sounds like chicken piccata but it’s really not. Picatta has capers, this does not. Picatta is dipped in egg then flour, Francese is dredged in flour first then egg, and it really makes a difference.

You must have thinly sliced chicken breast, so you’ll need to slice a whole breast lengthwise and then pound it down a little, of course unless you can find it already done for you like I did.

Another important thing is you’ll want to heat your pan up really good and hot, add the oil and when the olive oil shimmers you can do your fast cooking on each side, but don’t over crowd the pan!

I love serving this dish with angel hair pasta better known as capellini, the thin strands soak up all the juices, it’s perfect!

For something green I made some rapini on the side which went very well with it all.

My family came over and we made this dish together, a fun night together and we enjoyed every bite!

Chicken Francese with Angel Hair Pasta

Chicken swimming in a delicious lemony butter sauce served with capellini pasta.

Author: Marie

Ingredients

4 whole chicken breast, thinly sliced lengthwise to equal 8 pieces all together pounded down to make them nice and thin
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 cup of white wine
3 cups chicken stock
¼ cup lemon juice
1 shallot, chopped
3 cloves, chopped garlic
1 lemon zested and sliced
butter and olive oil
fresh chopped parsley
1 lb. of angel hair pasta/ capellini

Instructions

Set up all your ingredients first, have everything chopped and ready. to go because this goes pretty fast, while you're doing that start heating up your pan, don't use a nonstick pan, stainless is best for this.
Have your dredging stations set up, in the flour add salt and pepper, in the egg mixture also add salt and pepper.
Add a good amount of. olive oil to the hot pan and when its starts to ripple you're good to go.
Dredge your cutlet into the flour first then into the egg, don't over crowd the pan do it in stages if you have to, I did 3 at a time.
Quick fry on each side about 3 minutes, then set aside.Chicken should be tender and golden crispy.
No need to clean your pan, now add the lemon slices and lightly brown on each side then remove and place with the chicken.
Now add a good knob of butter and more olive oil and saute your shallot and garlic together.
Now deglaze with the white wine and let it reduce to half.
Add another knob of butter and stir in around 3 tablespoons of flour to make a roux.
Now add the stock, lemon, juice and zest, then keep stirring till it thickens up a bit.
Now it's time to put the chicken and sliced lemons into the lemony sauce, I actually got a bigger pan and just poured all of the sauce on top.
Let it all simmer together for a little bit making sure chicken is cooked through.
Have your pasta cooked, make sure to scoop some of that sauce into the cooked pasta, it's time to eat!
Garnish with chopped parsley, a little drizzle of olive oil
This dish is best eaten right away, I wouldn’t make it ahead.
Enjoy

3 Comments Filed Under: Poultry Tagged: angel hair pasta, capellini, chicken, chicken francese, lemon chicken, lemon sauce

Mushroom Bolognese

November 28, 2022 by Marie

If you’re a mushroom lover then this mushroom bolognese is the dish is for you. It’s hearty, so satisfying, a definite cold weather food, quick to make and so full of flavor.

It’s a vegetarian take on traditional bolognese where savory mushrooms replace the meat.

Look how hearty that is, savory mushrooms enhanced with thyme and a little bit of rosemary is the main show stopper, along with the veg, garlic and other savory goodness.

Thick ribbons of pappardelle pasta tossed into the sauce is what I prefer, but honestly feel free to use any kind of pasta you like.

Like I said this dish is quick to make so it would be great for a midweek meal or a special impromptu dinner party.

During the cold winter months this hearty bowl of mushroom bolognese will become your new comfort food.

Mushroom Bolognese

Savory mushrooms replace the meat in this vegetarian version of bolognese.

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1 lb. of pasta, papardelle or pasta of your choice.
1- ½. lbs. cremini mushrooms, or a mix of your choice
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
¾ cup tomato paste
¾ cup white wine
1 cup whole milk
rosemary and thyme
¾ cup grated parmigiano reggiano
butter and olive oil
pasta water
parsley

Instructions

In a food processor add the carrot, celery ,onion and garlic, pulse it until you get a nice uniform course chop. ( otherwise finely chop by hand). Remove veg from bowl and set aside.
Next in 2 batches do the same with the mushrooms, pulse til coarsely chopped (or by hand).
In a large heavy bottomed pan drizzle ¼ cup of olive oil and a pat of butter.
Add the veg, with some salt, pepper thyme and rosemary to taste, saute around 5 minutes til softened.
Add the chopped mushrooms and saute until you see little moisture, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste
Add in the wine until it evaporates.
Add in the milk and a little pasta water if need be to loosen it up.
Season to taste, add the grated Parmigiano, a nice drizzle of olive oil and garnish with fresh parsley.
Toss the cooked pasta into the mushroom mixture and after plated, more cheese, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil for garnish.

Filed Under: Pasta, Sauces, Vegetables Tagged: bolognese, meatless, mushroom, pappardelle, vegetarian

Labor Day Salads For End Of Summer

August 31, 2022 by Marie

It’s a fact, the end of summer is here. The light is changing already and soon fall and comfort foods will be on the horizon.

Labor Day is just a few days away and there’s still a surplus of summer veggies still available. These salads are easy to put together and great to bring to any cookout, BBQ or just as a side dish for your own personal grilling.

Most salads here have no recipes linked because visually you can see all the ingredients I used, and as far as dressings go you can make your own favorites, but I’ll mention the ones I used.

On the bean salad above I used a balsamic vinaigrette tossed with a mix of colorful veggies and haricot verts.

For this Greek salad I used a good quality olive oil with Greek oregano, salt and pepper.

Beautiful heirloom tomatoes that I’m dearly going to miss! Adorned with burrata cheese, homemade basil pesto and olive oil.

Figs are coming in strong for their last hurrah, here’s the link how I put it together.

More tomatoes of course, on a bed of arugula with my favorite castelvetrano olives, red onion and a generous olive oil drizzle.

Mix up a “salsa” of small diced corn, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, fresh mozzarella and chickpeas, over a layer of cooked green beans or haricot verts with a healthy dose of olive oil.

With this panzanella salad you could easily replace the asparagus with green or yellow beans, here’s the link how I put it together.

I can’t put a number on how many tomato and cucumber salads we had all summer, it’s a staple in my house, it’s quick to make and the perfect side for summer eating. Good quality olive oil, fresh basil from the garden, it doesn’t get better than that! You can toss in some toasted. bread cubes or not!

Grilled potatoes and grilled corn get tossed together with a combination of Mediterranean ingredients as shown below, the dressing I used was a white balsamic vinaigrette.

I hope these salads inspire you to use up the best and the last of summers bounty, I know I’ll be dreaming about those exquisite summer tomatoes in the dead of winter!