52 New Recipes | Chicken Francese
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Um.
I did not try the recipe I planned to try.
I can't even remember off the top of my head what I chose!
Anyway, what I made came from my latest Cook's Country magazine.
I followed the recipe pretty precisely, except that I left out the called-for capers due to them receiving a cold reception from my family on previous occasions.
This is basically breaded chicken cutlets with a lemony white wine sauce, and while we all thought it was ok, none of us thought it was anything super amazing.
Plus, it required dipping the chicken in cornstarch and then in an egg mixture and you know how those kinds of recipes produce piles of dishes?
Not worth it if the result is just sort of meh.
Also: I discovered that the feeling of chicken dipped in cornstarch was like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. I can handle having my hands in flour, but there's something about cornstarch that is rather cringe-inducing for me.
I had to resort to using a pair of tongs. 😉
So.
This looked really beautiful and it fed my family, but I probably won't make it again.
I suppose the problem could be that the capers are essential, but still, that wouldn't have made it more palatable for my family!
Next Week's Recipe
Ahahahaha.
I'm just going to embrace my pattern for the last few weeks.
So, hey, I'll try whatever suits my fancy when I plan next week's menu!
How about you?
Did you try something new this week? Share!
I had a ton of, ahem, microgreens from thinning the clumps of radishes and arugula seeds planted by my 4- and 7-year old sons, which I've never actually eaten before. I put olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper on them, and amazingly my children ate them just like that. I added some of my beloved pickled beets to mine (my favorite for salads) and, because we uncharacteristically had it, some feta cheese. It was real feta made with sheep's milk (purchased only because it was on deep discount and actually cheaper than the domestic feta), which is generally not to my taste and it definitely has a barnyard flavor to it, but man, it was DELICIOUS with that combination of flavors.
Too bad I'll probably never have those particular ingredients all together again. Well, unless I have my kids help with spring planting next year too . . .
My boys love the Redwall books, and they've been begging us for hot root soup. I checked online and found a few different recipes to make the fictional soup. . . and the boys also checked the books themselves for lists of ingredients, and I made some soup. It had shrimp, leeks, potatoes, and watercress plus a few other things. It did not have ditch nettle peppers or bulrush tips or any other thing they read to me that I'd never heard of.
But it was surprisingly good, and I would actually make it again. An added bonus was that the kids tried some new ingredients we'd never had before.
Did you know that there is actually a Redwall cookbook? I got it a few years ago after reading some of the books. It is actually a cookbook with a story that runs through it. 🙂
Revived a recipe from decades ago--beef kebabs. We used to do it on the outdoor barbecue, but having none now except a distant one for the entire complex, I used the broiler. I could not even find the skewers, and this was an instance of re-buying after a declutter 15 years back. Once I recalled the taste, though, I HAD to prepare the dish, bought skewers, and it was worth it. Just cut-up beef cubes that marinated in wine, garlic, oregano and salt/pepper-- and veggies. Broiled only 7 or 8 min. with only one turning. Great with rice. Yea!
It's not a recipe, but I bought a jar of Tikka Masala sauce from Aldi that we hadn't ever tried. It was amazing! I followed the directions on the jar with the exception that I added half a chopped onion that I had hanging out in the fridge with the chopped red and green bell peppers that the directions called for. I served it over rice. We'll definitely have it again - a super easy dish for busy nights that we loved.
Since Aldi and Trader Joe's are owned by the same company, I wonder if the sauces are similar -- I really like the Trader Joe's version of this. No Aldi nearby though.
I love this sauce. I usually saute chicken and cauliflower in it and serve it over rice. Yum!
I had leftover smoked pulled pork. I put it over some potato wedges, added a cheese sauce, bbq sauce (with some chipotle mixed in), and a touch of sour cream. BBQ poutine.
Triangle Char Bar restaurant does a version of this that is great so I tried to recreate it...was well received by all my peeps.
Also had a smoked turkey and used the drippings off of it to make a gravy. BEST gravy ever. Then put the turkey, a touch of cheese, bacon, and gravy over a croissant. My version of Kentucky Hot Brown but without tomato since no one here is a big fan of raw tomatoes.
The cornstarch method is how we fry everything and I also HATE the feeling of it on my fingers! Cotton balls do it too for some reason. Ugh! Sorry to hear it didn't work out. I hate when you go through so much work to get something "meh." Better luck next time!
Right? It's such a weird, yucky feeling.
And the sort of squeaky sound you get when cornstarch rubs against other cornstarch? BLECH.
Just reading about this gave me that icky cat-scratched-the-chalkboard feeling, haha!
A couple weeks ago I tried to make BBQ ribs for the first time. My family loved it and since then that's one of their favorites, they told me (I think it's because of the different seasonings I added). But I will find new recipe this week other than BBQ ribs. Smoked ribs, maybe?
I'm not surprised you guys didn't like the chicken. Your family has a long history of being lukewarm about any version of "chix cutlets with sauce."
For the record, capers makes the dish much better, by adding a bit of sourness and bite to the relaitvely sweet lemon sauce. But it's still "chix cutlets with sauce" and I still expect it would receive a lukewarm reception from your family.
Interestingly enough, my whole family DOES like Swiss Mushroom Chicken, which is breaded cutlets topped with Swiss cheese and ham.
So, I guess I keep seeing recipes that kind of remind me of that, and I'm hopeful.
I should just learn my lesson and remember we think these are generally boring!
This is my favorite food besides pizza and it's what I order at Italian restaurant as well as make at home, and yes, you're right- the capers are ESSENTIAL! You can chop them up or even smash them up so your family didn't recognize them. Green olives are an acceptable substitute. I, and restaurants, usually use flour or breadcrumbs instead of cornstarch BTW. I say give it another try, with pasta or rice and peas, beans, broccoli, or zucchini on the side soaking up some of the wonderful sauce!
My go to chicken dish in an italian restaurant is chicken marsala. basically the same prep for the chicken with a mushroom/marsala sauce.
I made a chicken and rice dish that was so good...mayo, sour cream, chicken broth, chopped spinach, chopped chicken, garlic, and some pepper jack cheese thrown in at the last minute. I ate mine over mixed greens and hubby and toddler at theirs over rice. There were no leftovers.
I also tried a new spaghetti sauce recipe that called for simmering the sauce with a whole carrot (instead of adding sugar). The naturally sweet carrot cut the acid and added nice flavor. It's the first homemade sauce that my husband ate without questioning how "healthy" it was for him. And it was healthy. I added some extra veggies I had hanging out in my freezer along with the carrot, simmered the mixture for a few hours, and then blended it all in the blender before adding ground beef.
Will the family eat olives? Green one specifically would make a fair substitute for capers.
I haven't made anything new yet. It's been old standards this week at my house, but I hope to get adventurous this weekend. The chicken looks good; what a disappointment that it wasn't all that great. I happen to love capers, so I would have liked that part of the recipe, for sure.
I've never dipped chicken in corn starch, just flour, but now I want to try it, just to see how that feels. I think I might be weird.
They're close; cornstarch yields a crispier crust than flour.
Let me know if you try it!
We just made something similar by following a Chinese recipe this past weekend. We used pork instead of chicken though, and it was super delicious. I'm glad your dish turned out great!
For amazing flavor (and very frugal) I highly recommend two new favorites: shakshuka (seriouseats.com) and chana masala (smittenkitchen.com ). For the chana I just used ground cumin instead of toasting whole seeds and still delicious.
I've seen several recipes for shakshuka lately, but I'm not sure if I'd like eggs with a tomato-based sauce....? I like both separately. (No, I don't use ketchup with eggs, ever). But glad to see you enjoyed it! I may have to give it a whirl.
Shakshuka is delicious. It sounds kind of strange but it's soooo good. And just like Italian tomato sauce, everyone I know who makes it uses a different recipe for the sauce. The trick is to find the sauce that YOU like best, and stick with it (I'm a fan of onion/green peppers in the sauce, for example). Hope you like it!
New recipe of the week was Tex Mex beef wraps. This one was a big hit at our house. It has been added to my "keeper" file. Will be great in the summer because you throw everything in the crock-pot and let it cook all day. No standing over that hot stove...
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tex-mex-beef-wraps-recipe.htm
This week I tried grilled Peruvian chicken from the Epicurious cookbook. I turned out really well - very moist and flavorful. Leftovers were great in burritos and on salad. I will definitely make again.
I mean "it" turned out very well, not "I." I do think I turned out well but would not describe myself as moist and flavorful. 🙂
Bahahaha! That made me laugh. Moist is definitely a word best relegated to food descriptions.
Hahahah I have to agree!
Hubs made lamb gyros last night! Boy were they good!
Hi Kristen,
My new recipe I tried this week was called "Cheesy Meatball Skillet" and it was just divine. The meatballs are just, beef mince, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, chilli flakes, half a grated onion, garlic, oregano and tomato paste. First you brown the meatballs in a non stick skillet and put them on a plate. Then you make a gorgeous sauce in the same skillet. Heat a little extra oil, sauté the remaining onion ( chopped) 200 grams eggplant, a bottle of pasata, with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar added. Add the meat balls back to skillet, turn heat down and let cook away on low heat for about 20 minutes. Then you grate some more cheese over the top, sprinkle with oregano and the grill until cheese has melted, oh my it was just delish. Have a lovely weekend.
Fi
Kristen, I have actually made this recipe. The capers are necessary to give it a specific kinda tang. My family is picky about certain things, also, so I totally get that.
I made your recipe, sausage with orzo except I substituted broccoli and roasted red pepper for the vegetables. It was a hit! This weekend I am trying a teriyaki spinach and pasta salad.
We made Indian food this week. Can't pronounce it or spell it, but it was on so good. I made it with homemade paneer with marked down milk. Can anyone tell me how Kristen's recipe this week differs from chicken picatta ? I received my first Cooks Country today and my first issue is from Feb-Mar. Looking forward to trying this.
Omg, I love pretty much any Indian dish that has paneer in it.
I think all the PF Chang's knock off recipes use cornstarch, my favorite is the Mongolian Beef. I don't like slicing the meat thin or the feeling of cornstarch, but I really like the end result. 😉
I love chicken cutlets, but I usually keep it simple and just use beaten eggs and breadcrumbs to cook them (I prefer breadcrumbs over flour, it creates a crunchy crust which is just yummm!)
Whenever you are coating food with flour or breadcrumbs, you can put dry ingredients on a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil Instead of dirtying another dish. Bonus – you can lift up the edges to move the breading onto the food.
And then no touching that nasty cornstarch!