A Giada de Laurentiis recipe and a Lou Diamond Phillips recipe walked into a pan...
This post is dedicated to Chicken Saltimbocca, which is basically chicken, prosciutto, and parmesan cheese cooked in chicken stock. After making Giada's classic Chicken Saltimbocca recipe several times, I saw LDP make a different version on Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off. I looked up LDP's recipe and was intrigued. So for this recipe, I sort of adapted the two recipes from Food Network's website to fit my preferences.
The "big-money" item, as Anne Burrell would say, is the prosciutto. This salty yet delicate pork product is what makes this recipe stand out from every other chicken recipe. It's a bit pricey, so just make the recipe for a few people so you only need a couple slices, and then it's not a big deal. I've found that buying six slices of prosciutto is enough to feed 4 people, which is what the recipe below is for.
One tip I have for this is to use a really nice chicken stock. I like the Rachael Ray brand, Nature's Promise, and homemade, of course, is the absolute best. If you have just a little bit of homemade soup on hand, you can stretch it by adding it in with a couple cups of instant stock made from bouillon cubes and water.
You will need:
6 to 8 chicken breast tenders, frozen and defrosted is fine
6 slices of prosciutto
olive oil for sauteing
butter for sauteing
chicken stock
juice of half a lemon
freshly-grated parmesan cheese
your choice of herbs, such as sage or parsley
Take any fat and tendons off of the chicken. Cut the chicken tenders in half or in thirds, depending on how big they are, to make more manageable pieces. Cut the prosciutto in pieces so it will wrap around the chicken and cover most of each piece, but not all -- this is not an exact thing. Just do what makes sense.
Take a piece of chicken, sprinkle on some parmesan cheese, and wrap a slice of prosciutto around it.
Heat up a little oil in a pan, and add butter to melt. You want the pan on medium heat.
Put in the chicken, making sure you can hear the sizzle. If you don't hear the oil sizzle when you put the first piece in, wait until it starts sizzling before you add the rest of the chicken.
Cook the chicken partially on the first side so it is white and beginning to be golden on the bottom, then flip and cook the other side. The chicken will not be cooked through. Then add the stock, lemon juice, and herbs. You want the stock to just cover the chicken. If you have a piece of the rind from the parmesan cheese, go ahead and add that too. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, and let the chicken cook the rest of the way through.
I let it cook about 15 minutes, and it was a bit overdone the last time I did it, whereas a previous time, it was not finished in that amount of time. You really have to be the judge because this depends on the thickness of your chicken tenders. My advice is to check on it after about 12 minutes if they're pretty thin and small pieces, and just check every few minutes. When you think it is done, cut into one of the larger pieces to make absolutely sure. Serving raw chicken is dangerous, but you don't really want to serve completely dry and overcooked chicken either, so just use common sense and pay attention. This recipe is a bit tricky the first few times you make it, but with practice, it will become a quick and easy go-to dish.
This post is dedicated to Chicken Saltimbocca, which is basically chicken, prosciutto, and parmesan cheese cooked in chicken stock. After making Giada's classic Chicken Saltimbocca recipe several times, I saw LDP make a different version on Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off. I looked up LDP's recipe and was intrigued. So for this recipe, I sort of adapted the two recipes from Food Network's website to fit my preferences.
The "big-money" item, as Anne Burrell would say, is the prosciutto. This salty yet delicate pork product is what makes this recipe stand out from every other chicken recipe. It's a bit pricey, so just make the recipe for a few people so you only need a couple slices, and then it's not a big deal. I've found that buying six slices of prosciutto is enough to feed 4 people, which is what the recipe below is for.
One tip I have for this is to use a really nice chicken stock. I like the Rachael Ray brand, Nature's Promise, and homemade, of course, is the absolute best. If you have just a little bit of homemade soup on hand, you can stretch it by adding it in with a couple cups of instant stock made from bouillon cubes and water.
You will need:
6 to 8 chicken breast tenders, frozen and defrosted is fine
6 slices of prosciutto
olive oil for sauteing
butter for sauteing
chicken stock
juice of half a lemon
freshly-grated parmesan cheese
your choice of herbs, such as sage or parsley
Take any fat and tendons off of the chicken. Cut the chicken tenders in half or in thirds, depending on how big they are, to make more manageable pieces. Cut the prosciutto in pieces so it will wrap around the chicken and cover most of each piece, but not all -- this is not an exact thing. Just do what makes sense.
Take a piece of chicken, sprinkle on some parmesan cheese, and wrap a slice of prosciutto around it.
Heat up a little oil in a pan, and add butter to melt. You want the pan on medium heat.
Put in the chicken, making sure you can hear the sizzle. If you don't hear the oil sizzle when you put the first piece in, wait until it starts sizzling before you add the rest of the chicken.
Cook the chicken partially on the first side so it is white and beginning to be golden on the bottom, then flip and cook the other side. The chicken will not be cooked through. Then add the stock, lemon juice, and herbs. You want the stock to just cover the chicken. If you have a piece of the rind from the parmesan cheese, go ahead and add that too. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, and let the chicken cook the rest of the way through.
I let it cook about 15 minutes, and it was a bit overdone the last time I did it, whereas a previous time, it was not finished in that amount of time. You really have to be the judge because this depends on the thickness of your chicken tenders. My advice is to check on it after about 12 minutes if they're pretty thin and small pieces, and just check every few minutes. When you think it is done, cut into one of the larger pieces to make absolutely sure. Serving raw chicken is dangerous, but you don't really want to serve completely dry and overcooked chicken either, so just use common sense and pay attention. This recipe is a bit tricky the first few times you make it, but with practice, it will become a quick and easy go-to dish.