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Chicken Scallopini

Zola on

A year ago to this day, our town went into lockdown. Restaurants closed. Pubs that served food closed. Heck, everything closed.

I haven’t been to a restaurant since. It’s super sad. One time we ordered a pizza for a weekend lunch and my husband picked it up. Another time we ordered a batch of burgers so our staff could have lunch on the day we moved into our new offices. We did curbside pick-up for that one. That’s it.

I went into cooking mode. I’m a foodie and it’s a good thing, I can cook.

I like to cook but it can get old when you’re feeling forced, or pressured into cooking.

Every holiday since the lockdown has been celebrated with dinner for two. I even cooked my own birthday dinner. I got real smart on that one. I wanted to make it so simple that I didn’t feel like I was cooking. The menu? Prime rib and baked potatoes. All I had to do was pick up the prime rib at the butcher. Season it and toss it in the oven. Toss in the baked potatoes too. I put my husband in charge of all the bits you can use to top your baked potato. He set out sour cream, butter, chopped green onions, and grated cheddar. We customized our potatoes to our liking. I almost felt like I was at a steakhouse. The red wine didn’t hurt either.

Because I'm cooking a lot, I designed dozens of Plan Z recipes in the last year, so that's a plus. Then, something happened a few days ago that really rocked me.

My husband and I were eating and watching a movie in our den. He reached out his hand and took the remote. He paused the movie.

Then he said something I’ll never forget...

Read the full column and see the best recipes of the pandemic at PlanZDiet.com

Chicken Scallopini

A traditional Italian meal made the Plan Z way. My husband declared this one of his favorite meals of the year.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or one package of chicken tenders
1 tsp of grated sea salt
1 tsp of grated black pepper
2-3 Tbl of flour
3 Tbl of olive oil
4 Tbl of butter
8 oz of fresh mushrooms, trimmed and sliced. Use cremini, shitake, or even button
1/2 cup of diced shallots
1/3 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 tsp of grated lemon zest, dried zest/peel will work

Instructions:

If using chicken breasts, place the breasts on the cutting board and carefully take your chef knife and slice the breasts horizontally to make two breast pieces. If using chicken tenders be sure to trim off the white membrane.

Get out a large ziplock bag. Place the chicken pieces in the bag one at a time and flatten the breast pieces with a meat mallet to pound down to roughly one-third of an inch thick. If using chicken tenders just pound down any that are fatter.

Use the same ziplock bag and put it in the flour. Toss the chicken pieces in the flour to coat them. I did two breasts at a time. You just want to get them coated. You probably won’t even use all the flour in the bag. I also take the breasts one by one and pat them over the sink to knock off any excess flour. If using tenders just toss them and knock off the excess.

Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper. Save the rest for the sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. Medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering add the chicken pieces. Don’t crowd them. Cook until golden brown, about four minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Should be another two minutes or so. Make sure no pink remains in the chicken.

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl or plate and cover them to keep warm.

Now you’ll make your sauce.

Melt the butter in the same saute pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, shallots, and the remaining salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often until the mushrooms brown up. It should take about five to six minutes. Add the wine and cream. Cook for a few minutes until reduced to a creamy consistency. Stir in the lemon zest and serve the chicken with the sauce.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola


 

 

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