The Week Night Issue

Cooking on a week night can be a chore.It's prepping and cooking food after a busy,hectic day that probably started at six or seven AM. High calorie, empty nutrition take out looks good around this point.Don't despair. There is a way to have easy home cooked food that both delicious and nutritious. Thankfully the New York Times Food section has come to the rescue.

The section's heavy hitters, such as Julia Moskin and Melissa Clark., offer suggestions and recipes to not only get you through the Monday through Friday slog but also deal with busy weekends.There's even an article by Rosie Schaap on minimalist drinks that can ease the sting of tiredness and a demanding family.One of the best recipes for a weeknight comes from Ms. Moskin in the form of chicken franchese.It's an easy recipe (that also can be made with tofu chicken as well) that's delicious without the stress of too much work. Chicken breasts are easy to cook. They can made made in  little time and please a hungry horde.They're also low fat, perfect for those watching their weight. However there is that chance that they  can also be dry, tough and tasteless. That's where chicken franchese comes in. This is an American classic, with no roots in Italy whatsoever.It was originally made with veal and might stem from similarly made classics such as piccata, Marsala and saltimboca. Basically,a thin cut of meat gets a thin coating of flour and then it's browned in oil with a drizzle of instant pan sauce. It can be a challenge because the chicken must be cooked in a flash or it will become scorched. The sauce must be quickly made or it can go cold really fast too.

Franchese is a lot more forgiving according to Ms. Moskin.It has an egg coating to keep it moist and a plentiful pan sauce to keep it comfortingly warm. This is a European custom seen famously in Wiener schnitzel and fritto misto. The sauce can be made a few hours ahead and the cutlets can be cooked at a more leisurely pace. Chicken cutlets are easy to whip up.It;'s first creating a batter composed of two eggs. milk, salt and pepper. The second coating, the flour is put in a separate bowl. The breasts are first dredged in the flour, shaken to get rid of any excess then dipped into the egg wash. They 're then fried in oil for about four minutes, until both sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. When finished, wipe the pan with paper towels and return to the stove.If you're adding the lemon slices  (and why not - they add color to the dish) fry them in oil until the edges are slightly brown,The sauce is made from butter and white wine along with  freshly squeezed lemon juice and chicken stock. The cutlets are then added and they'll add to the sauce thickening. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with a nest of plain linguine or  steamed vegetables such as green beans or broccoli. that go well with the lemon I would serve both the pasta and veggies , possibly asparagus.

Weeknight cooking needn't be extra work.It can be an easy and fun way to end a hard day. whip an easy drink, chicken franchese and enjoy the meal.