Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

When I took over cooking duties in my home (my wife is a great cook but she works long hours) this was one of the first recipes I tried. It is simple and the results are fantastic.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (Buy thin-sliced chicken breasts or slice them yourself. I prefer the latter. It’s much cheaper. To do this I use a boning knife and VERY CAREFULLY slice through the chicken breasts horizontally. I can get at least two good thin slices. Sometimes three. If the third slice doesn’t look too good, I save it to make my own chicken fingers.)
• 1/2 cup white wine (I’ll admit it…I use the stuff from Goya.)
• 2 cups chicken broth (Two small cans (14.5 oz) of College Inn Chicken Broth will do. Stay away from light/fat-free broths…they are as tasty as tap water.)
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 1/4 cup butter (Smart Balance works fine)
• 2 lemons, juiced (Or…the less ambitious may prefer ReaLemon lemon juice. I use about 7 tablespoons. The result is a sauce that has a lemony flavor but not overpowering, that is, you do NOT pucker as a result.)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in some cold water. (You may find that you need another tablespoon of cornstarch.)

DIRECTIONS

1. Coat the chicken with flour, then the egg beat, then saute in a large skillet until almost cooked through. Chicken should be a very light brown in color. “Doneness” is a function of how thin you sliced the chicken. (Note: I usually use olive oil.) Place cooked chicken in a large, deep platter (a casserole-type dish is fine…remember…you’ll be adding sauce to this so you need some depth).

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. (Don’t forget to remove anything you store in your oven BEFORE turning it on.)

3. In a medium saucepan (2-quart about right) combine the wine, broth, salt and pepper to taste, butter or margarine and lemon juice over medium low heat. Stir together while heating slowly. When butter or margarine has melted, slowly stir in cornstarch until sauce thickens slightly.

4. Pour sauce on the chicken. (You placed it in that oven-safe deep dish…right?)

5. Bake at 300 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Options/Variations

Spinach: Fresh spinach is a great addition. Cover the chicken with as much spinach as you can get into your dish. Fresh spinach will tend to spring back up so push it down on the chicken to sort of flatten it out. Pour the sauce over it…then bake. The spinach will absorb a lot of that lemony flavor. Fish or Shrimp: You can substitute a mild fish - tilapia, catfish (yes…catfish) - or shrimp. The fish, of course, will require a gentle hand when turning over to saute. Be warned that if the fish is over baked it will tend to fall apart. So you may want to try shrimp instead. Do not buy precooked shrimp. Get fresh shrimp and clean them yourself.

Additional Comments

1. This tastes great reheated so save those leftovers.

2. This recipe scales well…I’ve cooked it for twenty people.

[updated on Sept. 11, 2007]

For another perspective on this cooking process, see: Conservation of Chaos: The A.D.D. Improvement Process.