About a month ago I cleaned out my cabinet that held cook books.  I realized I didn’t use half of them and I really needed space for some new gadgets I had gotten.  I brought the cook books upstairs to sort them out and send to the Goodwill store.

The cook books are still sitting next to me.  I kept looking at the top one which was American’s Test Kitchen Cooking for Two.  The casserole on the front cover was haunting me.  I wanted that!

I took the cook book downstairs and read it through.  I earmarked three recipes that I really wanted to try.  They were Shrimp Scampi, Beef Enchilada Casserole (the one on the cover), and Chicken Saltimbocca.  I have never made these recipes nor eaten them, except for Beef Enchiladas, just not in a casserole.

Last night I was anxious to make something different for dinner. I had purchased prosciutto at the grocery and was determined I was going to make the Chicken Saltimbocca.  The hubster was hesitant about the recipe.  I read it to him and he said he’d try it.

He sliced the chicken breasts into cutlets and I got them prepared for the fry pan.  We had six lovely cutlet pieces.  I headed out to the herb garden for sage.  You needed a teaspoon of chopped sage plus a sage leaf for each piece.  The sage was in fact the ingredient that made me hesitant about the recipe.  Chicken, sage and Italian ham?  Okay, maybe it would work.

I got all the ingredients ready at the work site.  I put in the first three pieces and as usual, the hubster took over the frying.  He cooks the meat, I made the salad.  I was ready to put in the last three pieces but he told me to hold off as they would cook differently and he wanted to watch them closely.  (He’s a bit anal, but he does cook a mean piece of meat.)

Meat all browned nicely and put aside, we sautéed the shallot and made the initial sauce.  Meat back into the sauce and we whisked in the butter, parsley and lemon juice.  The aroma was magnificent.  I think it was the lemon juice that did it.

I must say that Chicken Saltimbocca is now on our list of dinners to make.  My only regret is that we didn’t make more sauce and have a little pasta on the side.  A couple of ravioli would have been perfection.

Chicken Saltimbocca

¼ C plus ½ tsp. flour                                               Pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets                       4 slices prosciutto

2Tbsp olive oil                                                          1 small shallot, minced

1/3 cup chicken broth                                              ¼ cup vermouth

1 Tbsp. butter                                                          2 tsp. minced parsley

1 tsp. lemon juice                                                     salt

Spread ¼ cup of flour in a shallow dish.  Pat the cutlets dry with paper towel and season with pepper.  Dredge the cutlets in flour and sprinkle top with minced sage.  Top with a piece of prosciutto.  Press lightly to help prosciutto adhere.

Heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the whole sage leaves and cook until the leaves begin to change color.  (15 to 20 seconds)  Transfer to paper towel.

Carefully lay the chicken cutlets in the skillet, prosciutto-side down and cook until brown about two minutes.  Flip and continue to brown.  Transfer chicken to a plate.

Pour off all but 1 tsp of the oil left in the skillet.  Sauté the shallot two to three minutes.  Stir in ½ tsp flour and whisk about 3 to 5 minutes.

Return chicken to pan, prosciutto side up.  Heat about 30 seconds.  Transfer to a platter.

Off the heat, whisk the butter, parsley and lemon juice into the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon the sauce over the cutlets, garnish with the fried sage leaves and serve.

(Note:  make more sauce than this because you will need it.  I’d probably double if not triple the sauce ingredients.)

Peace be with you.