For Father’s Day this year, Matt requested a special Father’s Day dinner. He wanted Chicken Francese which I had never made before, but when I found a recipe, it reminded me a lot of Chicken Piccata minus the capers. I was up for the challenge and ready to cook. The trick to this recipe is to have tender chicken. I bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pounded the heck out of them with a meat mallet. That is really important to making sure the chicken is tender enough to eat with a fork. The next thing is to make sure you season your chicken with plenty of salt & pepper. The meal turned out so incredible, but we all agreed that we could have seasoned the chicken with even more S&P. We served with over a little pasta that had just a little olive oil and parmesan cheese.
Chicken Francese
via Food Network
Ingredients
Directions
Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.
Dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the chicken cutlets to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
Toss the lemon slices into the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the wine, broth, and lemon juice, simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. Roll the butter in some flour and add it to the skillet, this will thicken the sauce. Stir to incorporate and dissolve the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan; place the lemon slices on top of the cutlets. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.
Beat that chicken!
The creamed spinach recipe is a dish I had actually made about two weeks before and frozen our leftovers. It worked out perfect to pull out of the freezer for this meal. I just let it sit on the counter for about an hour and then baked it in the oven at 350 for about 30 min or so. The jalapeño cheese in this recipe gives it so much flavor!! I love that you can make it ahead if you are entertaining and that it also freezes well.
Spinach Madeline
Ingredients
2 packages frozen chopped spinach
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup vegetable liquor (the liquid reserved from cooking the spinach)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon celery salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6 ounces jalapeño cheese, cubed
Red pepper to taste
Buttered breadcrumbs for topping
Directions
Cook spinach according to directions on package. Drain and reserve liquor. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Add flour, stirring until blended and smooth, but not brown. Add onion, and cook until soft but not brown. Add liquid slowly, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook until smooth and thick; continue stirring. Add seasonings and cheese, which has been cut into small pieces. Stir until melted. Combine with cooked spinach. This may be served immediately or put into a casserole and topped with buttered breadcrumbs. The flavor is improved if the latter is done and kept in the refrigerator overnight. This may also be frozen.
We also made his favorite Tomato Pie! We totally went overboard, I know! This recipe is always amazing, but tasted especially good this time because we picked up some incredible home-grown tomatoes from a vegetable stand. That can really make a big difference.
Lastly, we finished the meal off with the easiest homemade Peach Cobbler with fresh peaches from the above fruit and veggie stand. This cobbler is so good and so versatile. We serve it with Bryer’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream! You can see we dug into this before I remembered to take a picture 🙂
And before you think I am a rockstar woman in the kitchen, I thankfully had my Mom over to help with the cooking. She is the true chef in the family and I’m lucky to learn from the best!
What a yummy meal! I will have to make this chicken. That Junior League Spinach is a family staple over here!
Gosh my mouth is watering! This all sounds way too complicated for me though haha.