chicken cutlets with cream sauce

Chicken Cutlets with Cream Sauce

Provenance: The Best Recipe Book, by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (original title: Chicken Cutlets with Sherry-Cream Sauce and Mushrooms)
History: This is the other first recipe that really worked for us. Or at least it worked for Julia. Also, it looks impressive.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken breast cutlets (1.5 lbs each), trimmed, tendons removed, rinsed, and thoroughly dried.
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp veg/olive oil
- 2 shallots or scallions, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup broth (preferably chicken stock)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp minced parsley leaves
- pinch ground mace
- salt and ground pepper
- 1 small piece lemon

Directions:
- Sprinkle 1 tsp salt and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp pepper on both sides of cutlets. Measure flour onto a plate or pie tin. Working one cutlet at a time, press both sides into flour. Make sure tenderloin is tucked beneath and fused to main portion of breast. Pick up cutlet from tapered end, shake gently to remove excess flour.
- Heat butter and oil in heavy-bottomed skillet measuring at least 9 inches across bottom. Swirl skillet over high heat until butter has melted. Continue to heat skillet until butter stops foaming and has just begun to color.
- Lay cutlets in skillet, tenderloin down.
- Maintain MH heat, so fat sizzles but does not smoke, and sauté cutlets unto browned on one side, about 4 minutes.
- Turn cutlets with tongs, cook on other side until meat feels firm when pressed and clotted juices begin to emerge around tenderloin--3-4 minutes.
- Transfer cutlets to plate, keep warm in 200°F/93°C oven.

- Without discarding fat, set skillet over M heat. Add shallots, sauté until softened, about 1 minute.
- Add wine; boil until sherry completely evaporates, about 1 minute.
- Add stock and cream, boil, stirring frequently, until sauce reduces to about 1/3 cup and is thick enough to lightly coat a spoon, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add any accumulated chicken juices, reduce sauce to previous consistency.
- Stir in parsley and mace and season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
- Spoon sauce over cutlets and serve.

Comments: As you can see, we changed the recipe considerably, once again due to the lack of availability of mushrooms that didn't scare us and sherry. We also neglected the mace, mainly because we couldn't figure out what it was called in Italian, or we couldn't find it, I forget which. Possibly also the lemon. In any case, the recipe doesn't suffer much for the lack/changing of those ingredients. If you care to add mushrooms, they get sautéed until soft just after the shallots and just before adding the wine/sherry.
(Incidentally, sparkling white wine works here, too.)