Chicken Francese
Published December 11, 2018
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
- Total Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 eggs
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
½ teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup vegetable oil
4 to 6 large boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (buy the cutlets thinly sliced, or buy regular boneless breasts and slice them in half horizontally to make thin pieces)
3 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed (optional)
½ cup dry white wine
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon, more to taste
2 cups chicken stock
3 to 4 tablespoons freshly minced parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
34 grams carbs; 429 milligrams cholesterol; 1180 calories; 35 grams monosaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 65 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 404 milligrams sodium; 106 grams protein; 4 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper until blended. Place the flour in a separate bowl. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
- Step 2
In a wide skillet, heat olive and vegetable oils over medium heat until shimmering.
- Step 3
Working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, lightly dredge the chicken in flour and shake off any excess. Dip into egg batter, let excess batter drip back into the bowl and place in the skillet. Fry, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Adjust the heat as the cutlets cook so they brown slowly and evenly, with a steady bubbling. Transfer to the paper-towel-lined pan and repeat with remaining cutlets.
- Step 4
When all cutlets are browned, remove the pan from the heat and pour off the oil. Wipe out the pan with paper towels. Return the pan to low heat.
- Step 5
If making the lemon slices (if not, skip to Step 6 below): Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and then scatter the lemon slices over the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring gently occasionally, until the lemon slices are golden and browning around the edges, about 3 minutes. Scoop out the lemon slices and set them aside.
- Step 6
Add 3 tablespoons of butter, the wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Boil until the liquid is syrupy, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil and cook until thickened into a sauce, about 5 minutes. (It will thicken more when you add the cutlets.) Taste and adjust the seasonings with lemon, salt and pepper; it should be quite lemony and not too salty.
- Step 7
Reduce the heat, tuck the cutlets into the pan and simmer very gently until the sauce is velvety and the chicken pieces are heated through, about 4 minutes. Turn the cutlets over occasionally in the sauce. Place the browned lemon slices on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve, spooning some of the sauce over each serving.
Private Notes
Comments
For the real thing, eggs, 2 TB fine grated parmesan & 2 TB lemon jce to batter, no milk; sauté in 3 TB butter, 4 TB olive oil. For sauce add clove of smashed garlic to pan, ½-1 cup broth, ¼ wine, jce of ½ lemon, then ½ cream. Cream cuts the lemon 'pucker'; 2 cups broth, you'll have a lake. Lemon slices, nice but more work than necessary, and basically inedible. Yes to the parsley.
I sometimes add some baby spinach right to the pan when I add back the chicken and cover to simmer. It wilts and no need for an extra pot for a veggie. Tastes great in the lemon butter sauce
Isn't this simply chicken piccata without the capers?
I made this with sole instead of chicken. As recommended in the top comment, I added a bit of garlic and cream to the sauce, as well as a bit of grated Parmesan to the egg mix. Didn’t want to transfer the delicate fillets back into the sauce, so added a teaspoon of cornstarch to the cream and tempered it with the warm wine and broth before adding it to the reduced sauce to thicken it a bit. Served with mushroom risotto, sautéed zucchini, and corn on the cob. Youngsters inhaled every bit and licked their plates (granted, they were famished from kayaking, but they raved). Winner! We’ll be bringing back fresh halibut from Alaska next week and I’m definitely going to give it this treatment. We did have extra sauce left over and tomorrow I envision it being spooned over bay shrimp, green bell pepper, and Swiss cheese omelettes.
I followed the recipe to the letter. It was good but… Here’s what I’d change next time: season the flour NOT the batter. The chicken was on the bland side (so maybe even season the chicken before the dredge). The lemons were pretty but didn’t add a lot, but the lemony butter was a good start for the sauce. Two cups is way too much chicken stock. A splash of heavy cream would help too. This needs 2-3 cloves garlic at some point too.
One egg is plenty.