Chicken Breasts With Lemon
In this recipe, which Pierre Franey brought to The Times in 1992 in one of his 60-Minute Gourmet columns, two teaspoons of lemon zest are added to a simple sauce of lemon juice, thyme, garlic and shallots. It is, at once, lively and elegant. To round it out, it needs a sturdy accompaniment. Mr. Franey suggested mashed potatoes with garlic and basil, with just a little olive oil swirled in.
Ingredients
- ½ cupflour for dredging
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 4skinless boneless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
- 2 tablespoonsolive oil
- 4 sprigsfresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 tablespoonsfinely chopped shallots
- 2 teaspoonsfinely chopped garlic
- 2 teaspoonsgrated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoonslemon juice
- ½ cupchicken broth, fresh or canned
- 2 tablespoonsbutter
Directions
- 1
Season flour with salt and pepper, and dredge the chicken all over. Remove the excess flour.
- 2
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the chicken pieces in one layer. Add chicken and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
- 3
Flip the chicken and cook for 5 minutes more, or until cooked through. Carefully remove the oil from the skillet, leaving the chicken. Discard the oil.
- 4
Add the thyme, shallots and garlic, and cook for about a minute. Do not burn the garlic. Add the lemon rind, the lemon juice and the broth.
- 5
Scrape the skillet to dissolve the brown particles that cling to the bottom. Add the butter, and cook for 3 minutes longer. Serve immediately.