Susan Branch cookbooks are among my favorites. Her lovely illustrations and clever quotations make reading them enjoyable, and the recipes I have tried so far have been delicious. Her lemon chicken recipe from Heart of the Home: Notes from a Vineyard Kitchen
is a family favorite. We enjoyed it recently with green beans and mashed potatoes. This meal would be delicious served with Paula Deen's pink lemonade cupcakes for dessert.
Lemon Chicken
Melt-in-your-mouth goodness from Susan Branch's cookbook Heart of the Home: Notes from a Vineyard Kitchen.
.3 whole chicken breasts, boned, skinned and halved
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Wash and dry chicken breasts. Pound them flat with a mallet. Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet. Put the flour in a plastic bag and drop the breasts in to coat. Regulate the heat to moderately high, and put the chicken breasts in the skillet. Cook approximately 3 minutes on each side. When they are done, salt and pepper them and put them on an oven-proof dish and into a 250 degree oven to keep warm while you make the sauce. (Serves 6)
The Sauce: Add 4 tablespoons butter to the chicken skillet and melt, scraping up brown bits in the pan. Remove from heat; add 4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, and the juice from 1/2 lemon. Pour hot sauce over breasts and serve. (Note: I forgot to remove the pan from heat before adding the parsley, so the herb does not look as fresh and bright in the photos. The dish still tasted delicious, though.)
"My house is very tiny and I wanted a place for my guests to feel comfortable, so out in the backyard I built a little 'shed' exactly the size of two king beds -- half of it is bed, and the other half is chairs, a table, etc. It's whitewashed -- dried flowers hang from the rafters -- no electricity, but lots of candles and windows. Very cozy and romantic."
-- Susan Branch in Heart of the Home: Notes from a Vineyard Kitchen
