Chicken Francese

This recipe was sent to me by Joel Pamerantz who is one of the more entertaining members of our extended family. Joel is a Brooklyn ex-pat who now lives in New Jersey with his charming wife Audrey.

As I wrote about Shrimp Francese, There are almost no cookbooks that include a recipe for Chicken Francese. Joel found one of the few in the Brooklyn Cookbook by Stallworth and Rod Kennedy published by Knopf. The only other cookbooks I know about that include this dish are "The Men of the Pacific Street Social Club Cook Italian", and Cooking In A Small Kitchen by Arthur Schwartz, published by Little Brown.

So, thank you Joel, and I welcome other interesting recipes from anyone reading this blog. I can't wait to try the recipe later in the week.

"This is a good company dish-you can saute the cutlets ahead of time and heat them in the oven when you choose. I serve this dish with rice or orzo and a green vegetable.

2 pounds chicken cutlets cut thin
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 T. minced parsley
2 T. pecorino cheese, grated
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup flour
vegetable oil for sauteeing
2 small beef buillon cubes
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Have the butcher pound the chicken cutlets as thin as possible, or do it yourself. Pat them dry with paper towels.

2. In a shallow bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, parsley, cheese and garlic powder. Spread out the flour on a sheet of wax paper. Roll each cutlet in flour, shake off the excess, then dip into the egg mixture. Let the excess egg mixture drip off, then roll the cutlets lightly in more flour.

3. Heat a thin layer of oil in a large saute pan. When the oil is sizzling, saute the cutlets, a few at a time, until browned and crisp, turning once. Use more oil as needed. Place the cutlets in a single layer, or overlap them slightly in a large ovenproof baking dish.

4. Dissolve the beef bouillon cubes in 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Add the butter and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture over the cutlets and place the dish in the oven until the cutlets are heated through and the sauce is bubbling, about 10 minutes.

5. If the sauce is too thin, remove the cutlets to a heated platter and reduce the sauce over high heat to half its volume. Spoon over the cutlets and serve, or serve separately with the sauce in a heated sauceboat."
Serves 4 or 5