Day 264: Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

I saw this recipe on My Kitchen Cafe a while ago and knew I had to try it.  I was attracted by the fact that it used a nice light sauce instead of a lot of heavy cream.  Now I'm all for heavy cream, but this was a nice change.

Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce
12" dutch oven

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup seasoned flour (1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper)
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced (see garlic tutorial here)
1 tablespoon parsley flakes or 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from about 1 lemon
3 eggs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons butter

Place the seasoned flour in a large gallon-size ziploc bag. Set aside. In a shallow pie plate, beat the eggs until mixed and add the Parmesan cheese. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a dutch oven over a full spread of coals, melt one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Let it begin to heat and sizzle while you prepare the chicken but be careful not to let the butter burn and turn brown.

Put the four chicken breasts in the bag with the seasoned flour, close the bag, and shake to coat the chicken in the flour. One by one, take the chicken out of the bag and dip into the egg/Parmesan mixture. Place the chicken carefully in the skillet with the hot oil/butter. Repeat with the other chicken breasts. Let the chicken cook on the first side, without moving or flipping the chicken, for 1-2 minutes until a nice, golden crust has formed. Carefully, using a wide spatula, flip the chicken and let it continue to cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side until it is golden brown. The chicken will flip easiest if it has had time to sizzle and cook to form a nice crust.

Remove the chicken from the pot and keep warm.

In the same dutch oven that you browned the chicken, melt the remaining four tablespoons butter. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Simmer the sauce for 1-2 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits that were on the bottom of the skillet.

Return the chicken breasts to the pot and spoon the sauce over the chicken.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Use 1 1/2 rings on top and 1 ring on the bottom.  Serves 4.

The Finished Product

I didn't get to take a picture of this one because everyone was starving and well, I just forgot.  This pic is courtesy of  My Kitchen Cafe.

The Review

My husband doesn't generally comment on what I make for meals.  With him, I know he likes it if he eats and doesn't say much about the food.  About half way through the meal he stopped eating and said "This is one of the best chicken recipes you've ever made."  I almost fell off my chair.  But I have to agree with him.  The garlic isn't at all overpowering.  In fact, its very subtle and the lemon is just out of this world.  I will give you 2 words of advice about this recipe.  First, double the sauce.  We didn't have nearly enough sauce.  Second, for the love of all that is holy, use fresh squeezed lemon juice.  Please, I'm begging you, don't use the stuff from a bottle.  That would be the perfect way to ruin an otherwise fabulous recipe!  Grade A.