Meet Lisa and her Lemon Chicken recipe

LISA, 48, grew up in Cliffside Park, NJ. She currently resides in Pine Brook with her husband of 29 years, Arnold. They have four children, Danielle, Taisia, Arnold and Jimmy, and two grandchildren, Sophia, 2, and Juliana, 6 months.


As the oldest cousin, I am the self-proclaimed matriarch. A title I do not take lightly. So, for the longest time, family gatherings, birthdays, holidays, etc. would take place at my house. I think that my true calling is to be an army chef because, as my family would attest, I cook in large quantities. I’m not talking an extra hamburger or two; I’m talking massive pounds of macaroni. Lately, out of sheer exhaustion, I have passed the tradition of holidays onto my sister. A fact that she is not happy about and yes, there have been many times we did “rock, paper, scissors, shoot” to decide where Thanksgiving would be. And being the older sister, when I lost the match, I twisted her arm and sobbed uncontrollably until she gave in and agreed to have it at her house.

I do enjoy cooking and I picked up a lot of my recipes from my grandmother. Her meatball stew, her veal cutlets and gravy (we do not call it sauce) all come from watching her in the kitchen. My father was also a great cook and made a mean vodka penne. 

Cooking for four kids and a husband was sometimes a challenge. My daughters, at one point or another, decided they were vegetarians while my teenaged sons would practically eat the chairs if they were hungry enough. My husband, well, what can I say…God love him, he would eat anything I put in front of him and ask what it was later.

So, while each of the recipes I will share has some sort of memory for me, whether it be when my father cooked his gravy and turned a kitchen into a crime scene, or sitting at my grandmother’s house on a Sunday afternoon with the entire family eating spaghetti and meatballs, I look forward to sharing them with you and encourage you to make your own memories.

LEMON CHICKEN

This is a recipe that my son Jimmy loves.  He asks for it every time I give my kids a chance to “order” their dinner.  Sometimes I use lemon curd in place of the lemons or when I want to give it an extra lemony taste.  Lemon curd is hard to come by but when you can find it, use it!







2 lbs thinly sliced chicken breasts
Flour mixed with salt, pepper and parsley (for breading) 
Egg wash (2 eggs beaten with milk)
2 lemons
2 cups chicken broth
A good white wine
1 package of white mushrooms, sliced

In a deep fry pan, put enough oil and butter so that it reaches halfway up the pan.

Dip each chicken breast in the flour, and then dip in the egg wash.
 
Fry until golden brown in the oil/butter mixture.
 
Remove chicken and place in deep baking dish.
 
Cut one lemon in slices and put in the remaining oil/butter mixture along with the sliced mushrooms.  Fry slightly.  Cut the other lemon in half and squeeze juice into pan.
 
Add chicken broth and white wine—about ¾ cup —to the mixture.  If broth seems too thin, add a pat of butter covered in flour, this will thicken the sauce.  Taste.  Add what your taste buds tell you…a little more wine, a little more lemon, a little more wine, a little more wine…
 
Pour over the chicken breasts.  Cover with foil and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The chicken will soak up a lot of the broth and will melt in your mouth.