Showtime Synergy!

I'm totally having synergy with Scotte at Eat with Me. We bought all these chicken breast from Costco and I wanted to clear the freezer for the massive amount of food we are making for our open house. So Saturday night, I was inspired by Tyler Florence making chicken piccata (or scallopine, I forget which is which) that I had to make some myself with all that chicken. It turned out beautifully and I am convicined that piccata/scallopine is the best way to cook a chicken breast. What you do is cut the chicken breast through the middle so that you end up with two flatter breasts. Then you put the halves in between two pieces or wax paper/parchement paper/plastic wrap and pound the hell out of them with your instrument of choice - mallet, frying pan (preferably cast iron) or rolling pin (my favorite). I had a crappy rehearsal for this show I am in and it was bvery therapeutic. The reason for the pounding isn't necessarily to tenderize the meat but to get it into a uniform thickness. You then salt and pepper the breasts and dredge them in flour. In a hot frying pan, pan fry them in a mixture of 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Fry each side for 4 minutes until they get a golden brown crust. Put aside and add another tablespoon of olive oil and saute a small onion and two cloves of chopped garlic in the oil. Deglaze with 1 cup of chicken broth/white wine or any combinatin thereof. Let the mixture reduce by half and if you want to be decadent add a quarter cup or cream or even sour cream. To make it scallopine, add the juice of at least half a lemon. Put the chicken back into the sauce (pour the chicken juices in) and let simmer for another ten minutes to cook through. The result is tender, moist, flavorful chicken with a divine sauce. There must be something in the air about my joint need with Scotte to make pan fried meat.