“I plate it with lots of parsley, on a pretty nest of linguine,” she said, so the dish looks fresh and light.
You can follow her lead, serving the dish with pasta or something starchy to soak up the sauce, or with a steamed vegetable that goes well with lemon, like green beans or broccoli. The thin cutlets you need are made from whole breasts by slicing them horizontally, and if necessary, pounding them to quarter-inch thickness. Presliced cutlets are available in most supermarkets, and any butcher will make them for you.
Vegetarians can use slices of cauliflower or a favorite vegetable patty instead. If you like a little extra zip and heat, you might add a little grated Parmesan, a pinch of red-pepper flakes and a little parsley to the egg coating, as they do in Rochester.
Or you could branch out even farther.
Ms. Hess’s sister, Jennifer McGee, has been a server at Rochester restaurants for 25 years. Ms. McGee said that she has seen every kind of “French”: haddock French, lobster French, artichokes French and recently, creations like shrimp-and-broccoli French.
“I’d guess something French is served at 80 percent of weddings, parties, everything like that,” she said. “You can’t cook in Rochester if you don’t know how to make chicken French.”
Recipe: Chicken Francese
And to Drink …
With this bright, lemony dish, you want an equally shimmery dry white wine. It could be the same white you use for the sauce, with flavors that are not too assertive and lively acidity that refreshes. You could start by considering an array of Italian whites, like a good Soave or a vermentino from Liguria. You could easily select a grüner veltliner from Austria, which is often the preferred wine with schnitzel. From France, you could try a sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley, a Chablis or an aligoté. An assyrtiko from Santorini would be both unconventional and delicious, and nothing goes better with fried chicken than Champagne, so why not try it with this dish? If you would like a red, possibilities include Valpolicella, barbera and Beaujolais. ERIC ASIMOV
