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One Dinner, So Many Possibilities

I woke up one recent sun-filled morning and decided that, for dinner, I wanted pasta with the basil pesto from last summer’s batch. I might have opted for a huge bowl of pasta, but I’m still working off my Pandemic 20 (extra pounds), so I decided to have a small bowl of pasta with a thin chicken cutlet from Pam Anderson’s How to Cook without a Book.

That evening, I made the chicken with a Marsala pan sauce. This way I only needed two ounces of pasta. I took the tiny package of pesto and warmed the plastic in my hands. I drained the pasta, added the pesto, topped it with some fresh parm, and placed it on a warmed plate with the chicken Marsala. Show me a restaurant who can do that as well as we can.

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.

Sautéed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Cutlets

Adapted from How to Cook without a Book

by Pam Anderson (Broadway Books, New York, 2000)

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each cut horizontally

and opened (like a book)

Salt, ground black pepper and one-quarter cup flour poured

into plastic bag

pan sauce (see Pan Sauce Possibilities)

Directions

Heat butter and oil into an 11- to 12-inch skillet over low heat. While pan is heating, dredge breasts into flour mixture and shake out excess. (You will sauté them in batches single file, if necessary, so that they do not steam.)

A couple of minutes before sautéing, increase heat to medium-high. When butter starts foaming and starts to smell nutty, arrange the chicken breasts in the skillet. Cook, turning only once, until chicken breasts are rich golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken from skillet and place on warmed platter...

Pan Sauce Possibilities

How to Make a Pan Sauce

Directions:

Measure pan sauces ingredients into a measuring cup for a total ½ cup.

Pour liquid into hot skillet once chicken cutlets (or pork or veal or fish, for that matter) are done cooking and removed, scraping off good browned bits.

Reduce liquid to ¼ cup.

Tilt skillet and whisk in butter or cream, and spoon over each portion and serve.

For a Red Wine-Dijon Pan Sauce

For the liquid, use ¼ cup canned low-sodium chicken broth and ¼ cup full-bodied red wine

For the flavoring, use 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

For fat, use 1 tablespoon butter

Marsala Wine Pan Sauce

For the liquid use ½ cup Marsala wine

For the fat use 1 tablespoon butter

Balsamic Vinegar Pan Sauce

For the liquid use ¼ cup balsamic vinegar and ¼ cup canned low-sodium chicken broth

For the fat use 1 tablespoon butter