I love to cook; as my children would say to me, “thank you for the information, Mrs. Obvious.” But it’s true; cooking is so creative and is one way for me to express my artistic side.  Even better, I get to feed people after I make the food,  which makes them happy, and I feel a great amount of joy when I do that. That’s just how I operate.

So when other people say, “I hate going to the grocery store,” I just can’t believe it. I love it so much! It’s where I get my art supplies, so to speak. I was there this afternoon, and was looking for inspiration. I started thumbing through some cooking magazines to see if I could find a spark, and I did.  I looked at “Taste Of Home,” which I infrequently do, and saw an interesting recipe for lemon-sage chicken by Denise Kleffman of California. She shared that recipe, which had been her mother’s (mama’s recipes are always the best!), and I decided to use it as a jumping off point for my own creative cooking tonight!

Here’s what I made:

Herb & Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breast with White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

5 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup grated Romano and/or Parmesan cheese

1 TBS dried parsley

1 tsp dried tarragon  (may use thyme if you prefer)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 ts pepper

1/2 cup plain flour

2-3 TBS olive or canola oil to cover bottom of frying pan

1.  In a shallow bowl, combine eggs through pepper, above.

2. Place flour in another bowl.

3. Coat chicken pieces in flour, then dip in egg wash to coat both sides.

4. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil in batches, until a lovely golden color. Remove and place in a Pam-sprayed baking dish.

5.  Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.

For the Lemony White Wine-Herb Sauce:

3 TBS butter, melted in skillet

2 TBS minced shallot

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup white wine (use water if no wine in the kitchen tonight)

4 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 TBS dried parsley

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

3 TBS cold butter, cubed

In the melted butter in skillet, saute the shallot until tender. Add garlic; cook one minute longer.  Add the wine, lemon juice, herbs, and lemon zest.  Cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced by about half.  Add cream; cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. (don’t let it scorch! Stay with it and stir.)

Stir in cubed butter until melted. Serve sauce with chicken.

 

 

The chicken sizzled gently in the oven as I mixed up the sauce.  I love making sauces; when Chef Jackson taught me the basics, I knew it was something that I could do easily and have excellent results. This one is just a “thrown-together from what I had in the spice cabinet” kind of sauce, but I loved the end result.

 

 

Please, try this sometime when you’re in the mood to make something really tender, juicy, and special for your family.  It’s fun to see your creation come to fruition, and it’s even more fun when your family takes that first bite and says, “Mmmmm! This is good, mom.” That happened at my house tonight, and it will happen at yours, too; I’m sure of it!

Enjoy!