Winner, winner, chicken dinner! This was my sisters’ and my most favorite recipe growing up. Lemon, sherry and butter (lots of it!) make it a big crowd-pleaser. Added bonus: it can be prepared a day ahead and popped in the oven 45 minutes before dinner. Although the recipe has been handed around from family to family, I’ve renamed it here for my mom, Anne Procter, who made it all the time whenever she was hosting big groups and kids. I usually serve it with some sort of rice side dish — white rice, wild rice, rice pilaf and a big salad or other green vegetables.
Serves 4-6, but very easy to double, or triple — or quadruple!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup dry sherry
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 heaping teaspoon powdered ginger
- 2 1/2 sticks butter
- More salt and pepper as needed
- Optional chopped chive or parsley as garnish
Instructions:
- Mix flour, salt and pepper on a shallow plate and dredge chicken breasts in mixture. Save remaining flour, salt and pepper to add to sauce.
- Melt ½ stick of butter in a saute pan, and saute dredged chicken breasts until lightly golden and mostly cooked through.
- Remove chicken pieces from the pan and set aside for a minute.
- Melt 2 sticks of butter and add all remaining ingredients (sherry, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger). Whisk in remaining flour, salt and pepper to thicken sauce a little. Bring to boil and then remove from heat.
- Put chicken pieces in a casserole dish that has a lid. Pour sauce over chicken.
- Fine to refrigerate like this until ready to bake. I often make a night, or a couple hours, ahead. Bring to room temperature before cooking. It may need extra baking time if it goes directly from refrigerator to oven.
- Bake, covered at 375 for 40 minutes. Once it’s finished baking, it’s fine to turn down the oven to 275 or 300 and let it rest until you’re ready to serve.
- Garnish with green herb, if adding, and serve with side dishes. Spoon plenty of sauce on the chicken.