Lemon Sage Chicken Cutlets

With all the time spent in the herb garden -- both at Linderhof and at the Arboretum, it was time for a real herbal meal. Cooking with herbs is easy -- it's just adding herbs to your favorite dish to enhance the flavor. But . . .

Sometimes I like to fix an herbal recipe. This chicken dish is one of those. The sage is a good foil for chicken and although it is a cutlet, it's not floured, egg, breaded and fried so it's more figure friendly.
Not only are the sage leaves sauteed and added to the sauce, but I garnished the dish with sage blossoms which surprisingly has a very strong sage flavor. Plus it adds a great purple color to the plate. The perfect accompaniment -- herbed rice!

LEMON SAGE CHICKEN CUTLETS

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 bunch of fresh sage

4 1/2 T. lemon juice

3 1/2 T. olive oil

3 T. butter

lemon wedges or slices

Pound the thicker end gently with the side of a large knife to flatten evenly. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Scatter half the onion slices and 8 to 12 sage leaves or small sprigs of sage evenly over the bottom of a glass or ceramic dish just large enough to hold the chicken breasts in a single layer. Drizzle about 1 1/2 T lemon juice and 1/4 T. olive oil over the chicken and rub it lightly to coat. Invert the chicken breasts in the dish and coat the tops with another 1 1/2 T of lemon juice and 1/4 T. olive oil. Top each breast half with 2 or 3 sage leaves and scatter the remaining onion slices on top. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate at room temperature for 1 to 3 hours (or refrigerate for up to 6 hours -- if chicken is refrigerated let it stand at room temperature in its marinade for at least 1 hour before cooking).

In a large heavy skillet, heat the remaining 2 T. olive oil over moderately high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade, wipe off the sage and onion, and pay dry with paper towels. Add the chicken to the hot oil in the pan and saute for 2 1/2 minutes or until nicely browned on the bottom. Turn over and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until browned on both sides and white but still juicy in the middle. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour out all the oil from the pan. Add the butter to the skillet and melt over moderate heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the botom of the pan. Add about a dozen sage leaves to the melted butter, and cook, stirring gently and turning the leaves over if you can, until they are lightly browned and crisp and the butter is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 T. lemon juice and pour the sauce and sauteed sage leaves over the chicken breasts. Garnish the platter with lemon wedges or slices to squeeze over the chicken. Serve at once.

It's Friday -- which means that it's Foodie Friday -- so please join Michael at Designs by Gollum to see what tempting taste treats everyone has this Friday!