Chicken with Lemon and As-Creamy-As-You’d-Like-to-Make-Sauce

I would normally call this a great weekday dinner dish, but while sheltering (yes it is July and COVID is digging in its heels on the west coast) every night is kind of a hybrid weekday/weekend night. This dish is great because it is simple but still tastes like something special. And it is really good for picky family members too - it has a delicious smooth sauce that you can make more or less creamy (and fattening) by adjusting your dairy choice - use cream or skinny it down with the milk you have on hand (I have 1% milk and added some butter when I made this).

Add a little green salad and, as I feel with many of my meals, always have some crunchy warm French bread along for the ride to soak up the yummy sauce, however you decide to make it.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts, split, skinned, boned and pounded (and if too big, cut in half)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• ¾ cup butter

• 2 tablespoons vermouth, sherry or white wine (and a glass for yourself silly!)

• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 cup heavy cream

• Grated parmesan cheese to taste - “to taste” for me means a big pile

Preparation

• Turn oven broiler on.

• Salt and pepper breasts.

• Sauté chicken in large pan for 5-8 minutes in ½ cup butter, turning once.

• Transfer chicken to oven-proof platter.

• Combine vermouth, lemon zest and juice in a saucepan and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Add cream slowly and stir.

• Pour sauce over chicken. Put a pat of butter on each piece [optional – I don’t] and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

• Brown under broiler and serve.

This is adopted from a recipe from the The Junior League of Kansas City Missouri Cookbook that my cousin Linda gave me for an engagement gift a long time ago!