Recipe – Breaded Chicken Escalopes – and a Tomato Sauce to go with them and some Pasta

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WD - The Author at Work (PALS)

You can buy these ready-breaded if you like, but bear in mind they cost more than the DIY variety and, frankly, don’t taste so good. Freshly made is best and they are always popular with family and friends. Ideal with pasta and tomato sauce (again, homemade triumphs by a mile over the store-made or bottled kinds – see recipe below)

The tastiest result (not necessarily the healthiest) for my bread-crumbed escalope is produced using home-made coarsely ground breadcrumbs. I used to find Pitta bread perfect for this, but a chunk of a less-than-fresh baguette also does well. The other day I used home-baked wholemeal bread crumbs and they were good, too.

Ingredients for Four Servings

Two good sized chicken fillets carefully sliced in half to give two thin escalopes. You may also beat smaller fillets flat if you wish, or flattened boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or thinly sliced and beaten pieces of pork fillet.

1 generous cup-full of home-made breadcrumbs

25 cl oil for frying

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp flour

Method

1. In your food processor put broken pieces of the bread and make quite coarse breadcrumbs.

2. In a shallow dish put the breadcrumbs and mix them with salt, pepper and a tablespoon of finely grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well.

3. Beat four chicken escalopes flat and dip them in flour.

4. Next, dip the floured escalopes into well beaten egg and make sure they are covered all over.

5. Take the egged escalopes and roll them in the seasoned breadcrumbs, making sure they are covered all over.

6. Gently fry on both sides until golden and cooked through. Serve.

Basic Tomato Sauce

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This sauce can be used for all kinds of dishes. It freezes well (the little terra cotta pots often used for Deli products like olives are a very good way to store 2 – 3 portions). It can be made in any quantity in the proportion of about 1 onion to 3 tomatoes. This is enough to be going on with…

2 largish onions (about 150 g / 5 oz), peeled and finely chopped 450 g / 1 lb of ripe red tomatoes, coarsely chopped 3-4 good cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped Sprig of thyme and several bay leaves Salt and pepper 1-2 tbsps. dry white wine (or dry sherry) 1 flat tsp. sugar A pinch of chili pepper if you want a slightly hot touch 4-5 tbsps. olive oil

Method

1. In a large heavy pot, heat the oil and fry onions and garlic until transparent.

2. Add herbs, sugar and the tomatoes.

3. Cover, stir well and cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

4. Add wine and seasonings. Simmer for a further 15 minutes.

If you want a thick sauce, remove the lid and simmer away liquid— watch out for burning, though! You can play about with the ingredients to your heart’s content: more tomatoes, less onion, more garlic, no wine or sherry (or more), fresh herbs like basil, yummy! For a tomato coulis, remove mixture from pan and rub through a sieve or a Mouli. Chuck into food processor if you don’t mind the pips. You can skin and de-seed the tomatoes before cooking if the seeds get into your teeth.

RECIPE – Sauté of Chicken and Mushrooms

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 A good sauté should be cooked quite slowly to allow the flavours to meld and the sauce to thicken and become nice and rich.  The first chicken and mushroom sauté I recall clearly was at a mainly-lobster restaurant overlooking the Atlantic in Brittany, a long time ago.  My wife and I had been commissioned to produce an illustrated  book about the area, which we diligently did, only to find the publisher had gone bust when we had finished it.  But we had a good time doing it.   The sauté was pictured in the kitchen before plating up – the chef was the wife of the owner who did the seafood leaving her do cook the meat dishes he considered unworthy.  “We are Bretons”, he told me proudly, correcting the way I had pronounced his name (It was  spelt “Plos” and I said “Plo”.   “It is PLOTH – PLOTH”, he responded testily, the Breton pronunciation.  Breton was the language of the kitchen.   I have to say his wife’s chicken sauté was excellent, but his lobster salad was out of this world.  I append a picture below in dribbling memory… 

Chicken & Mushroom Sautee, Plos, Brittany

Ingredients for four good servings

 

500 g of skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into small chunks

3 tbsp olive oil 200 g button mushrooms, each sliced into three

2 large onions (250g), peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

125 ml chicken stock

125 ml dry white wine

1 scant flat tsp corn flour

Pinch of Herbes de Provence

 

Method (total cooking time about 30 minutes – though a few minutes more won ‘t harm the flavours)

1. In a large non-stick frying pan, which has a lid, heat the oil

2. Fry the slices onions until translucent

3. Push the onions to the side of the pan and add chicken chunks, frying for a few minutes until chicken is beginning to brown slightly.

4. Turn chicken fry for a minute or two and then turn the onions around with it.

5. Cook on low heat for about three minutes, then add the sliced mushrooms garlic; and Herbes de Provence; stir in.

6. Cover and cook on low hear stirring from time to time.

7. Add the chicken stock, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

8. In a cup mix the corn flour and wine and stir into the pan.

9. Carry on cooking for a few minutes more – if necessary add more liquid – the sauce should reduce to a nice smooth consistency and the chicken will be tenderly cooked through.

10. Serve with rice, pasta or new potatoes.

Lobsters in Brittany

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