* Chicken Francese and birthday's

2 years ago the fellow and I celebrated his birthday. During this time period we had been dating less than a year, and more often than not went out for dinner or ordered pizza.. we didn't do a lot of cooking together yet. Me, wanting to show him my domestic abilities (and wanting to do something nice for his birthday), decided to cook him one of his favorite meals. When we went to Italian restaurants he often ordered Chicken Francese, at the time.. I had never had it before.. I don't think I ever tried a bite of his while dinning out either.

I had never made it before, or tasted it to make sure it tasted the way it was supposed to...ya, it was interesting. It turned out.. ok... he ate it anyways lol. This year I decided to take on the task again.. I searched and searched cookbooks and websites and finally found a recipe that I thought might work.. I like Tyler's Ultimate TV show, so I thought I would try his version. I read the reviews and found a comment left by someone stating their recipe..

Chicken Francese
(adapted from Tyler Florence)
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Ingredients

1 skinless, boneless, chicken breast
All-purpose flour, for dredging, + some to make a roux
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 c lemon juice
1 Tbsp. melted butter for roux
1/2 C. cream
Cooked pasta

Directions

In between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, pound out your chicken (or you can use the thin skinless boneless breast and not pound them out). Season chicken with salt and pepper, coat the chicken in flour, and then dip them in your egg wash.

Cook the chicken in a skillet with olive oil. When all of the chicken is cooked set them aside (I turned our oven on to "warm" and kept them in there while I continued with the remaining steps).

In the same pan, add the lemon juice and chicken stock. Allow this to reduce by about half. Mix the melted butter and additional flower together and add to pan. Stir until combined. Add cream and stir until combined. Add salt and pepper per your tastes.

Plate chicken and pasta, pour sauce over top and enjoy!

 

  

The end results... Better than the first time I made it for him, but still not perfect! The sauce almost looked like a gravy because it had a brown tint from using the same pan that the chicken was originally in, next time we will make the sauce in its own pan. The flavor was good, the fellow said it tasted pretty close to what he orders at restaurants, so that is a plus!!

Do you make chicken francese? If so, I would love if you would share your recipe/method...I figure the next time I make it (in 2 more years...lol) will be the charm...(3rd time and all that...we'll see!! )

Also, Speaking of Birthdays.. February 23rd will be my 1st "blogaversary"!! Isn't that exciting?!?! It is a wonderful thing and a sad thing all in once. February is a rough month now. My grandfather passed away a year ago on the 15th, he is the reason I started this blog... he is the reason I sign "pup" to everything I write and share with you. Being that it has been a year, I wanted to say thank you! To all of you who follow, read, share, comment.. to everyone! I appreciate the feedback, the responses, everything!! And, I figure.. why not have a giveaway!! Just to say thanks! This is just a heads up.. The actual giveaway will start about a week before the 23rd!!

Happy Eating!!
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