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Chicken with Lemon, Cream and Parsley Sauce

by Nigella

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Introduction

This is both sprightly and comforting, a combination I find highly satisfactory! I normally prefer the brown meat, but here go for what are generally called mini-fillets of chicken breast, which take hardly any time to cook. What's important is the brief steeping in salted lemon juice, which ensures the chicken is miraculously tender. I dredge the mini-fillets in flour before frying, which gives them a filigree-thin golden crust. If you can't eat wheat, you could use cornflour/cornstarch, but that won't give you quite as crisp an exterior.

For US measures and ingredient names, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

Image of Nigella's Chicken with Lemon Cream Parsley Sauce — Photo by Nigella

Ingredients

Serves: 2 greedy people

Metric U.S.

zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
½ teaspoon fine salt
350 grams mini chicken breast fillets
25 grams plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
20 grams unsalted butter
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and minced)
60 millilitres dry white vermouth or white wine (replace with stock, for an alcohol-free version)
100 millilitres hot strong chicken stock
60 millilitres double cream
4 tablespoons flatleaf parsley (finely chopped)

TO SERVE

200 grams Tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli (steamed)

zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
½ teaspoon fine salt
12 ounces mini chicken breast cutlets
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and minced)
¼ cup dry white vermouth or white wine (replace with stock, for an alcohol-free version)
7 tablespoons hot strong chicken broth
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup Italian parsley (finely chopped)

TO SERVE

7 ounces Tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli (steamed)

Method

Add half the lemon juice to a dish in which the mini fillets can lie side by side in a single layer. Stir in the salt.
Duly add the chicken mini fillets, and leave them for 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
When they have had their brief but still tenderising time in the salty lemon juice, spoon the flour onto a large plate big enough for them to sit in a single layer. One by one, dredge them well on both sides.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan (again, in which all the fillets will fit in a single layer) and, once the oil is hot enough to gently shimmer, fry the mini fillets for 3 minutes a side, over a fairly high heat, till golden on the outside and cooked through. Cut into the fattest one to check. Transfer to a warmed platter, and cover loosely with foil while you turn your attention to the sauce.
Take the frying pan off the heat, add the butter, which will sizzle and melt in the residual heat, and then add the lemon zest and garlic. Return the pan to a medium heat and stir the garlicky lemony butter a bit before adding the Noilly Prat or white wine (or stock). Let it come to a bubble, then add the 100ml chicken stock.
Let the liquid bubble over a high heat for around 2-3 minutes, by which time it should be reduced and syrupy; if you run a spoon or spatula down the centre of the pan it will leave a line before the liquid covers it again.
Add the double cream, stirring to mix it in, and cook for another minute or so to thicken it. Add a splash of lemon juice, then stir in most of the parsley. Taste to see if you want any more lemon or seasoning before pouring over the chicken and sprinkling with the reserved parsley. Serve with the broccoli.

Add half the lemon juice to a dish in which the mini fillets can lie side by side in a single layer. Stir in the salt.
Duly add the chicken mini fillets, and leave them for 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
When they have had their brief but still tenderising time in the salty lemon juice, spoon the flour onto a large plate big enough for them to sit in a single layer. One by one, dredge them well on both sides.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan (again, in which all the fillets will fit in a single layer) and, once the oil is hot enough to gently shimmer, fry the mini fillets for 3 minutes a side, over a fairly high heat, till golden on the outside and cooked through. Cut into the fattest one to check. Transfer to a warmed platter, and cover loosely with foil while you turn your attention to the sauce.
Take the frying pan off the heat, add the butter, which will sizzle and melt in the residual heat, and then add the lemon zest and garlic. Return the pan to a medium heat and stir the garlicky lemony butter a bit before adding the Noilly Prat or white wine (or stock). Let it come to a bubble, then add the 100ml chicken broth.
Let the liquid bubble over a high heat for around 2-3 minutes, by which time it should be reduced and syrupy; if you run a spoon or spatula down the centre of the pan it will leave a line before the liquid covers it again.
Add the heavy cream, stirring to mix it in, and cook for another minute or so to thicken it. Add a splash of lemon juice, then stir in most of the parsley. Taste to see if you want any more lemon or seasoning before pouring over the chicken and sprinkling with the reserved parsley. Serve with the broccoli.