On one of my visits to Destin, Florida I had the most lovely chicken dish with a lemon butter sauce. The restaurant has since closed. Still craving this yummy dish, I decided to try to concoct a version myself. I searched for a lemon butter sauce recipe. I came across one from Emeril Lagassee. You can’t go wrong with Emeril. BAM!

Don’t let the term paneed scare you. It is a Cajun cooking term meaning pan fried, usually with bread crumbs. I have adapted it to use only flour, because that’s the way mama made it growing up. I also like to pound my chicken breasts with a mallet to get them to a uniform thickness so that they cook evenly. If you don’t the thinner portions get tough in order to get the thickest part thoroughly cooked.

This has become one of my family’s favorite meals. I hope you will try it!

Paneed Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Cups Self-Rising Flour, Divided
1 Large Egg
1/2 Cup Water
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
Vegetable Oil for frying

Directions:
Place one chicken breast on a plastic cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Pound with a wooden mallet until 1/2 inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts. On a dinner plate, place 1 cup of flour. In a bowl, add egg and water and mix with a fork until combined. On another dinner plate add remaining 1 cup of flour, salt and pepper and mix until combined. Take 1 chicken breast, dredge in plain flour, dip in egg mixture coating thoroughly, and dredge in seasoned flour.

Heat oil to 350 degrees in a nonstick skillet. It should be deep enough to cover the chicken breasts completely when frying. Carefully add the coated chicken breasts and fry on one side until golden brown. Flip breasts over and fry second side until golden brown. Insert a meat thermometer and make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked. It should read an internal temp of 165 degrees.

{TIP} If the outside is brown and the inside is not quite done, place in a 350 degree oven to finish them off.

Place Paneed Chicken Breast on a plate and top with Lemon Butter Sauce.

Lemon Butter Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup dry white wine
3 lemons, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon salt
3 turns freshly ground black pepper
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut up, at room temperature
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Heat a large nonreactive skillet over high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the wine, lemons, garlic, and shallots. Cook for 3 minutes, breaking up and mashing the lemons with a wire whisk. Stir in the salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and hot sauce and cook until the mixture is somewhat syrupy, for about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for 1 minute. Over low heat, whisk in the butter a few pats at a time. When all of the butter has been added, remove from the heat, but continue whisking until all of the butter is incorporated into the sauce. Strain the sauce, pressing all of the liquid into a bowl. Stir in the parsley. Serve immediately, or keep warm for a few minutes until ready to use.

{TIP} You may have Lemon Butter Sauce left over. You can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days, or you can also freeze it. I recommend freezing it in ice cube trays so that you can pop out individual portions as needed. Just place them in a microwave safe bowl and heat until melted. This sauce is also great on grilled or fried fish.

Let me know if you give it a try. I would love to know your thoughts!