ISO Wow Them Chicken Recipe

[zwieback]

I'm having an Italian themed dinner party and I'm looking for a chicken recipe that is really yummy. I don't eat meat too often so, I don't really have too many ideas.

Here are some things I'm sort of looking for in a recipe:
-Not too heavy (not loaded with creams, cheese, butter, etc.)
-Preferrably not with a red sauce
-Not deep fried (light frying is fine, prefer baking)

I've been searching the internet and this site for recipes and have found a couple of interesting recipes that use lemon. The recipes I've seen say serve with potatoes. Could I serve a pasta as a side with a lemony chicken instead? Would an alfredo type pasta go best, rather than a red sauce? Or, could I serve a red sauce? One recipe I found and thought about is Chicken Picatta (I've never made it before).

I'm just not wanting to go overboard with the red sauces because I plan on making caprese salad and bruschetta. I just don't want tomatoes being a major part of every single dish. And, I'm thinking about making cheesecake for dessert so, I don't want to have a creamy, too cheesey chicken dish.

Any thoughts, ideas, points to any threads you might know of would be greatly helpful. Thank you!

[krhm]

If you're planning on a caprese salad, bruschetta, and cheesecake, I would serve a chicken dish that incorporates pasta. I love chicken piccata over angel hair pasta, or chicken parmesan over linguine. I have some recipes at home that I could post if you're interested. The piccata in particular would be great with the other dishes you mentioned, and would go well over pasta alone (with some freshly grated parmesan cheese) for those whou wouldn't want to eat meat. If you have strict vegetarians who wouldn't want to eat a piccata sauce cooked with the chicken, it's easy enough to make the piccata sauce in a separate pan from the chicken.

Kari

[AliKat11]

Giada's recipe for Chicken Saltimboca is so easy that I can do it, and it's really yummy, too.
************************************
Chicken Saltimboca
Everyday Italian

6 (3-ounce) chicken cutlets, pounded to evenly flatten
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 paper-thin slices prosciutto
1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place the chicken cutlets flat on the work surface. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay 1 slice of prosciutto atop each chicken cutlet.

Squeeze the frozen spinach to remove the excess water. Season the spinach with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, toss the spinach with 1 tablespoon of oil to coat.
Arrange an even, thin layer of spinach atop the prosciutto slices. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over each. Beginning at the short tapered end, roll up each chicken cutlet as for a jellyroll. Secure with a toothpick.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice, and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Simmer the cooking liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 5 minutes. Season the cooking liquid with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove toothpicks from the chicken. Drizzle the reduced cooking liquid over the chicken and serve immediately.

[zwieback]

Thanks for the advice. There will be at least one vegetarian so, I don't want to have the chicken sauce over pasta. Also, I'm not sure what my guests will like (they're new friends and I've never had them over) so, that is part of the reason I'd like to have something different -- at least they'd have another option if they didn't like/want the chicken. That is why I was thinking about some sort of alfredo or baked pasta dish in addition to the chicken.

[zwieback]

Ooo, thanks for the Saltimboca recipe. That sounds great and I think that would go with just about any pasta side dish (although, the lemon still has me wondering). I just looked at the FoodTV website yesterday and looked through some of Giada's recipes. I guess I missed that one.

Thanks so much! This is a recipe that I'm putting in my definite consideration pile (I think I'm leaning toward this one now).

[tigermorris]

A really good chicken dish is the CL Balsamic Almond Chicken with Assorted Peppers. ( I think it is from 2000 or 2001; not sure)

It is easy to prepare and is quite pretty with the assorted colored peppers.

[AliKat11]

In my opinion, the lemon isn't overwhelming--just adds a touch of freshness & brightness to the pan sauce.

[Chelle D]

CL Stuffed Chicken with Gruyere, Arugula, and Prosciutto (http://food.cookinglight.com/cooking/display/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=344095)

I LOVE this one. The sauce is a little red, but not tomato based. I think the shallot and wine flavors would really be nice with a simple pasta side. I have served this many times nd have also subbed spinach and swiss for the gruyere and arugula. It makes a nice presentation as well.

[AzAnne]

Another wonderful chicken dish from Giada is

Chicken Florentine Style

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons shallots, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 cup whipping cream (I used half and half)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed, drained

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly. Shake off any excess flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep it warm.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are translucent, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute. Add the wine. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and boil until the sauce reduces by half, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce, and turn the chicken to coat in the sauce.
Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in another large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and saute until heated through. Season the spinach, to taste, with salt and pepper. Arrange the spinach over a platter. Place the chicken atop the spinach. Pour the sauce over and serve

[Searcher]

These are two we love. The first is lemony and if you make extra and want to have it as leftovers you'll need to make new lemon sauce. It just doens't save even overnight.





RAO’S FAMOUS LEMON CHICKEN (POLLO AL LIMONE)
Makes 6 servings

2 (2 1/2 to 3 pounds each) broiling chickens, halved
Lemon Sauce (recipe follows)
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley


1. Preheat broiler for at least 15 minutes before using.

2. Broil chicken halves, turning once, for about 30 minutes or until skin is golden brown and juices run clear when bird is pierced with a fork. Remove chicken from broiler, leaving broiler on. Using a very sharp knife, cut each half into about 6 pieces (leg, thigh, wing, and 3 small breast pieces).

3. Place chicken on a baking sheet with raised sides. Pour Lemon Sauce over the chicken, and toss to coat well. If necessary, divide sauce in half and do this in two batches.

4. Return to broiler, and broil for 3 minutes. Turn each piece and broil for an additional minute. Remove from broiler, and evenly portion chicken onto 6 warm serving plates.

5. Pour sauce into a heavy saucepan, and stir in parsley. Place over high heat, and boil for 1 minute. Pour an equal amount of sauce over chicken on each plate, and serve with lots of crusty bread to absorb the sauce.




LEMON SAUCE
Makes approximately 3 1/4 cups

2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste


Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk together until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Whisk or shake vigorously just before use.


Chicken Marsala
Serves 4

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each)
salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ½ ounces pancetta (about 3 slices) cut into pieces 1 inch long and 1/8 inch wide)
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
1 medium garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 ½ cups sweet Marsala
1 ½ tablespoon juice from 1 small lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, softened
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position, place a large heatproof dinner plate on oven rack, and heat the oven to 200ºF. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat until very hot (you can hold you hand 2 inches from the pan surface for 3-4 seconds), about 3 minutes. Pat chicken breasts dry. Meanwhile, place flour in shallow baking dish or pie plate. Season both sides of chicken cutlets with salt and pepper; working one piece at a time, coat both with flour. Lift breast from tapered end and shake to remove excess flour; set aside. Add oil to hot skillet and heat until shimmering. Place floured cutlets in single layer in skillet and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip cutlets and cook on second side until golden brown and feels firm when pressed with finger, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to heated plate and return plate to oven.

2. Return skillet to low heat and add pancetta; saute, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits until pancetta is brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. With slotted spoon transfer pancetta to paper towel-lined plate. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium-high; saute, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until liquid released by mushrooms evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste and cooked pancetta; saute while stirring until tomato paste begins to brown, about 1 minute. Off heat, add Marsala; return pan to high heat and simmer vigorously, scraping browned bits from pan bottom, until sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced to about 1 ¼ cups, about 5 minutes. Off heat, add lemon juice and any accumulated juices from chicken, whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

Cook's Illustrated, May/June 2000

[Aubergine]

if you're thinking of something like Chicken Saltimboca or Marsala, i wouldn't pair them with a heavy pasta alfredo on the side; a pasta primavera would work better, or something simple like aglio olio, or pasta with lemon (raved about on this site) or pasta with 3 garlics. have you considered risotto instead of pasta?