Pecorino Chicken with white wine, & lemon butter sauce 

I have been making this for so many years.  It was in a David Rosengarten newsletter, I can’t believe I have never posted it. Dear lord, this has been so many years. I have altered it over time to reduce steps and streamline, but the flavor remains one of my favorites. Honestly, as much as I love the whole recipe I would be just as happy with the jasmine rice and the pan sauce. That way I have my favorite part and leave the chicken to the boys and a lot of the time, I do just that. It makes a great lunch with a little more finely grated pecorino and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Lots of fresh lemon. No, I am not kidding. This is a thing you must do. Yes. do. 

My version:
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino
1 cup dry white wine or one of those cute little individual bottles – that is just what I do.
1 1/2 cup vegetable or no salt chicken stock
2 lemons, sliced, seeds removed (duh)

Cut each chicken breast in half or in three pieces or so if that works better and place between two pieces of waxed paper. Pound with kitchen mallet until about 1/2″ thick, or at least until they are all even thickness.

So spread out another piece of waxed paper for the prepared chicken.  Place the flour on another piece of waxed paper and and some black pepper.  In a medium bowl, whisk an egg until combined and then on another piece of waxed paper spread the finely grated Pecorino.  Dip the chicken pieces in flour, then in the egg, and then press into the Pecorino.  Let sit on the additional piece of waxed paper until ready to saute in a bit of olive oil. Letting this sit is a good thing.

In a non-stick saute pan, add a bit of olive oil and let it simmer a bit – you want it hot, but not crazy. Add each piece of coated chicken and saute until each side is medium brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. At this point, add stock and simmer for a bit  – really reduce it until it is almost gone. Then turn the heat up and then add the wine. Now, add the lemon slices and let them simmer. Squish the lemon rounds and then remove them.

Add the chicken pieces again and let them simmer, but don’t turn them because you want part of the chicken to be a bit crunchy. Turning would defeat that purpose.

While this is going on make at least a couple of cups of jasmine rice. Because it will be the best part, at least to me, of the dinner.

Let the chicken simmer for a bit and then check to make sure it is cooked through. Then serve.  ~~~ A bit of rice, a piece of Pecorino chicken and a good bit of pan sauce.

You can see why I love the rice and pan sauce bit – well, if you cannot, I can. Amazing. Oh, and a little extra lemon is never a bad thing. Neither is a bit of extra finely grated Pecorino.  Sigh.

Original Recipe:
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 heaping tablespoons of finely grated Pecorino cheese
4 tablespoons very finely chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten well
Flour for dredging
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
6 thin, round slices of lemon, seeds removed
2 tablespoons butter

Cut the chicken breasts into 6 pieces of roughly equal size. Place the pieces between sheets of waxed paper, and pound with a mallet until they’re thin. Season with salt and pepper. Place cheese and parsley in a wide, shallow bowl. Slowly add the beaten egg, whisking until it’s smoothly incorporated. Place the flour on a wide plate. Dip the pounded chicken in the egg mixture. Remove, letting excess egg drip off. Place each cutlet in the flour, and coat lightly. Remove from flour and hold them in a single layer.
Add the olive oil to a saute pan large enough to hold the 6 cutlets in a single layer. Place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cutlets. Saute, turning once, until the cutlets are golden on the outside, just cooked on the inside (about 2 minutes per side). Remove the cutlets, and hold them in a single layer.
Spill the oil out of the saute pan. Return the pan to high heat. Add the white wine, and reduce it to 2 tablespoons. Add the chicken stock and the lemon slices. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the lemon slices. Keep boiling the sauce until it’s reduced to 1/2 cup. Turn heat to very low. Swirl in the butter until the sauce is thickened. Add the reserved chicken, turning them until they are coated in sauce. Divide cutlets among 2 plates, pour remaining sauce over them, sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, and serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of David Rosengarten

July – August 2016 – butter & eggs usage

9 July 2016 – Pear Bleu Cheese Turnovers – 1 large egg

And here is where is gets really sad –  nothing else until …

6 August 2016 – Creamed Corn – 3 Tbs butter

7 August 2016 – Chicken Salad & Egg Salad – 8 large eggs (boiled)

10 August 2016 – Red Onion, Asparagus Fettuccini White Wine, Orange Juice, Butter Sauce – 4 Tbs butter

17 August 2016 – Roasted Mushrooms – 2 Tbs butter

26 August 2016 – Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Chip Sour Cream Cake – 5 Tbs butter – 1 large egg

16 August 2016 – Brownie Cups – 16 Tbs butter – 4 large eggs

Well, I will give myself this excuse that summer is not terribly conducive to baking – or cooking – honestly. I can just skip dinner at this time of year.

My sad baking/cooking summer

It has been a bit of a challenging summer. Not feeling creative and hot and humid as what I imagine hell to be. That said, I have done little and this will just prove it and I hope will be a kick in the right direction for fall baking.

9 July 2016 – Pear and Bleu Cheese Pastry – 1 egg

6 August 2026 – Creamed Corn – 3 Tbs butter

7 August 2016 – Chicken Salad – 8 eggs and some of them were for the pup.

10 August 2016 – Asparagus, Red Onion, Fettuccini with orange juice, white wine, butter sauce  – 4 Tbs butter 

17 August 2016 – Butter-Roasted Mushrooms – 2 Tbs butter

26 August 2016 – Sour Cream Chocolate Chip & Butterscotch Chip Cake – 5 Tbs butter – 1 egg

26 August 2016 – Brownie Cakes – 16 Tbs butter – 4 eggs

29 August 2016 – Thomas’ California Cheese Bread – 6 Tbs

Sigh.

So an underwhelming total of 14 large eggs and 36 Tbs of unsalted butter.

Asparagus, Red Onion, Fettuccini with orange juice, white wine, butter sauce

Once again I fall back on one of my vegetarian recipes. I think it is summer thing, I just want much lighter food in the summer. I really do not have an actual recipe for this, I just remember making it for something like the decade that I was a vegetarian. That said, I still prefer mostly meat-less dishes with the exception of a very good rib-eye – my favorite cut – or some bbq – or well, I will likely go on a bit to long and then disprove my “mostly meat-less” idea. Either way – summer needs to be light.

Now that I think about it though, I do not like soup with meat in it, kind of like ever, and nor do I like pasta with meat in it very often. Maybe that is odd, but it is just the way I am.

Be that as it may, this is one of my favorite pasta recipes ever and I find it interesting that the flavors are similar to my favorite cous cous salad recipe – orange juice, red onions … that seems to be a thing, for me anyway.

So here it is  – yet another non-recipe recipe. Hope you enjoy it and I think you will.

1 softball* sized red onion, peeled, and sliced
1 bunch of pencil thin-ish asparagus, woody stems broken off, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 package Buitoni fettuccini
fresh orange juice
Splash of vegetable stock – 2 Tbs or thereabouts
187 ml decent white wine – Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio – one of the little 4 pack bottles
More butter to finish – salted, and perhaps European, yep
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggino – the good stuff, just do not play around with this, seriously.

In at least a 12 inch sauce pan, melt the butter and then dump in the red onions.  At the same time set another pot with water to boil to blanch the asparagus. You will use the same water to boil the fettuccini – easy and healthy – or something. Saute the onions until they are soft  while blanching the asparagus, but make sure to remove the asparagus when it is bright green, it will cook a bit more in the white wine orange juice sauce.

When the onions are soft, deglaze the pan with the white wine and a couple of TBS of vegetable stock, and let it cook down a bit. Then add the orange juice about a cup and a half. It will look like way too much, but do not panic. Dump the fettuccini in the asparagus water and cook it to al dente. Move the asparagus into the white wine orange sauce – you are just going to have to wing it at this point. Tasting, judging, you might need to add a little more orange juice. The big thing is to not over cook the pasta.

Add the pasta to the orange juice butter asparagus red onion sauce and let it soak up the sauce. The just to gild the lily, add a couple of TBS of really good European butter – swirl.

When serving you need the salty bite of some Parm – yes, you do.

You are welcome.

*I think recipes really need to tell you the size of an onion – um, medium means pretty much nothing if you do not know what “medium” means. So, I think we all have an idea of a softball, so that is what I am going with.

Asparagus Red Onion Pasta

Asparagus, Red Onion Pasta with Parmesan

Another perennial favorite, especially when the asparagus are at their best which is pretty much now. I like my asparagus about #2 pencil thin, they could be thicker, but for me that’s ideal. Once again another recipe that I have no idea where is started, but it did start when I was a vegetarian – All those years ago. But it does stand the test of time and come April/May I just have to make it. I think the non-vegetarians will like this – I have proof. You can make it other times of the year if the asparagus look right to you. It’s stupidly simple and no – I don’t have any real measurements anymore. I guess that’s what happens when you make a recipe so often that it becomes a bit of a thing that you like that much. You don’t have to think, you just put the pieces parts together and it works. I especially like that you cook the asparagus and pasta in the same water. There are only two pots (or pans as it were) to do this and a good bit of butter and Parmesan are involved – two of my favorite things.

So take a deep breath, like I said it’s simple, but don’t get too hung up on the particulars – taste and adjust – I still do that. I think that’s a pretty good cooking rule to live by.

• A bunch of asparagus, snapped and chopped into about 1 inch pieces
• medium red onion, peeled, halved, and sliced
• half a pound of farfalle pasta
• splash of dry white wine, if you have it
• orange juice
• unsalted butter
• Parmesan
• olive oil

So heat the olive oil and start sautéing the red onion. At the same time, heat a big pot of very salted (like the ocean) water. Drop the asparagus into the salted water (did we get that salted is a key thing here?) and let them return to the surface and be bright green and crisp-tender. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon and let cool. You could do an ice bath, but I never have.

Meanwhile, after the onions are soft and the pan is a little on the dry side, you can hit them with a splash of white wine or if you don’t have that, or are not inclined, just add about half a cup of orange juice (real stuff please). Add the pasta to the still bubbling asparagus water and cook till al dente. When the oj/wine has reduced a bit, add the asparagus and then the pasta when it is ready. Add another splash of oj and then add about 3 Tbs unsalted butter to make a great sauce. And then – taste and adjust. Does it need more butter, more oj, a little more time to sort of meld together as a dish.

I like the sauce to thicken a bit here and if you want to add some pasta water with its starch, but not too much – thickening is the goal. You can add Parmesan now – which I do – and then serve it with more for topping. Sorry there is never too much Parmesan in a pasta dish if you ask me.