Chicken with Mushroom Sauce
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup milk
1 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
Olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
12 fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
4 scallions, trimmed and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons capers
½ cup chicken broth or water
½ cup Marsala or white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 lemons, sliced
Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or rolling pin, pound and flatten chicken to ½-inch thickness. Sprinkle chicken evenly with ½ teaspoon salt.
Combine flour, pepper and another ½ teaspoon salt in a shallow dish. Pour milk in a shallow bowl. Put bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Dip chicken in milk and dredge in bread crumbs.
Line a platter with paper towels and set aside. Pour olive oil to a depth of ¼ inch in a large skillet and heat over medium-high. Working in batches, fry chicken 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and drain on the lined platter. Discard oil and drippings, reserving 2 tablespoons in the pan.
Saute garlic in hot drippings 20 seconds over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add scallions, parsley and capers; saute 1 minute. Stir in broth (or water), wine, lemon juice and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve mushroom sauce over chicken, with lemon slices on the side.
To freeze chicken: Fry chicken as directed until almost done. Cool quickly. Freeze on baking sheets, then place in labeled zip-top plastic freezer bags and freeze up to 4 months. To reheat, thaw in refrigerator overnight. Place in a shallow pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until temperature reaches 165 degrees.
To freeze mushroom sauce: Ladle room-temperature sauce into zip-top plastic freezer bags. Seal and freeze up to 4 months. To reheat, thaw in refrigerator overnight. Reheat in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Serves four.
“Southern Living Fix It & Freeze It, Heat It & Eat It” (Oxmoor House, 2012)