Chicken Cutlets Italienne

I took my daughter shopping after work because she has been extremely good lately and even though I worked a long day, I think a Mom just has to go that extra mile to show how much effort is appreciated by a child, in this case, my daughter. She is 16 and hardly ever asks for anything. She always worries about me being tired from work and school. I, of course, feel terrible that she feels she needs to worry so I wanted her to have a little fun on a weeknight and find something new that made her look forward to going to school tomorrow. It was really nice, except for the fact that I also found a few things like the perfect picture that is a country scene, black and white, of old farm fences behind aged and elegant maple trees in the middle of fall. One of those pictures where you do not even realize that you have stopped and are just mesmerized. So, we both came home feeling elated. She came home with another purse to add to her collection and a few other little things that were just little feel good items. The whole trip was so worth it.
Now, it is that ever wonderful feeling of knowing that it is now late and I still have dinner to make. Calling in for pizza sounds so good right now but no, I am going to be stronger willed. I already took chicken breasts out of the freezer this morning and I selected a quickie dinner to make. I bet I could have dinner done before pizza could be ordered and picked-up and that is exactly what happened. I got hubby to make rice in the rice cooker and I set to work on a simple but nutritious dinner. Chicken Cutlets Italienne. First, I needed to flatten 3/4 pounds of chicken breasts, which I did between 2 sheets of wax paper and a meat mallet, and then slice these breasts into 2. Easy and great for any leftover aggression =). Next was to simply chop up zucchini, Roma tomatoes, onion, and gather herbs, grated fresh lemon peel and juice along with putting together the flour to dip the cutlets into. Took me about 10 minutes total.

With all the ingredients pre-assembled, putting the dish together was a breeze.

I browned the cutlets in 2 Tablespoons of butter and 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil. They just needed to cook until the cutlets were golden brown on both sides. This only took a couple minutes and that was for 2 batches. After the cutlets were golden brown, I set them in the oven to keep warm and put the sauce together.

The sauce thickens on the leftover flour in the skillet from the cutlets frying up. This took me about 3 minutes to get to the boiling point. The sauce boils for 1 minute and then it is done. The rice cooker was finished cooking the rice at the same time so all went well. . .relief =).

Chicken Cutlets Italienne (serves 4)

Ingredients:

3/4 pounds boneless chicken breast, flattened to 1/4" thickness

2 medium size zucchini

2 medium size plum tomatoes

1 medium onion

1/2 medium lemon

1/4 cup flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. oregano

1 1/2 t. chicken flavor instant bouillon

1/2 cup water

3 T. Olive Oil, divided

3 T. butter, divided

1/2 t. dried basil leaves

Cooked Rice, enough for 4 servings

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice each chicken cutlet crosswise in half. Cut zucchini into bite size chunks. Dice tomatoes and onion. From 1/2 lemon, grate peel and squeeze 2 teaspoons juice.

On waxed paper, mix flour, salt and oregano, use to coat chicken. In non-stick 12" skillet over medium heat in 2 Tablespoons of butter and 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, cook cutlets, half at a time, until browned on both sides.

Remove cutlets to warm plate as they brown, keep warm. In drippings add 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil and 1 Tablespoon butter, over medium heat. Cook onion until golden, add zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until golden and tender crisp. Stir in tomatoes, lemon juice, lemon peel, chicken bouillon and 1/2 cup water. Over high heat, heat to boil. Boil 1 minute. Stir in basil. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Plate rice and place chicken cutlet on top and sauce over all.