Orange chicken in no time flat

Shoulda taken a picture of my dinner last night. I'll try to remember that in the future. Ever since I saw Katie Couric make Chicken Piccata several years ago, I've wanted to do something with flattened chicken breasts (aka "paillards"). I even got a nifty meat tenderizer from Pampered Chef last year in anticipation of this new culinary adventure. It wasn't until last night that I discovered how fun and easy it was. Flattening the breasts helps yields tender, tasty chicken that cooks quickly. For different flavors, you could marinate the chicken first or experiment with other citrus/savory sauces.

Easy Orange Chicken
4 chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless)
salt and pepper
1/3 cup flour
2 tsp butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 oranges, juiced, or 1/2 cup of good and slightly pulpy orange juice
1/2 cup of white wine


1. Between two pieces of plastic wrap (waxed paper falls apart I've discovered), pound chicken breasts to about 1/2 inch thick with a heavy object, e.g., meat tenderizer or small cast iron skillet.

2. Sprinkle both sides of pounded breasts with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour and set aside.

3. Melt butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until slightly browned (about 1 minute).

4. Add paillards and cook approximately 4 minutes on each side - should be lightly browned with no pink showing through.

5. Remove paillards from pan and keep warmed until ready to serve.

6. Pour juice and wine in pan and cook until reduced to about 1/2 cup ... approximately 5 minutes.

Serve chicken thinly sliced, drizzled with sauce and accompanied with favorite starch and a green vegetable or salad. Quick-cooking couscous would be good ... I was too lazy last night to do anything other than steam some broccoli. (I saved my starch for the chocolate chip cookies and milk I ate while I watched "Then She Found Me" on Netflix. Odd movie.)