By Florence Fabricant
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes, plus 6 hours' marinating
- Rating
- 4(896)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This French-inspired chicken dish isn’t exactly weeknight fare, but it is sophisticated comfort food that is well worth the effort. First, boneless chicken thighs or breasts are pounded into cutlets, marinated in garlic, lemon juice and thyme (up to 6 hours, but even a short sit will do nicely), then breaded and fried. They are then dressed in a rich yet delightfully piquant sauce of mushrooms, shallots, garlic, Dijon mustard, white wine and balsamic vinegar that is a welcome contrast to the richness of the fried chicken. Serve with a crisp green salad (and a potato gratin or pommes Anna if you're feeling particularly ambitious). If you’d prefer to fry the chicken 30 minutes or so in advance and keep it in the oven at 175 degrees, that’ll work beautifully. As for what to drink, this dish pairs perfectly with the pinot noirs of the Côte Chalonnaise on the southern end of Burgundy. Bon appétit!
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 3tablespoons lemon juice
- 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4cloves garlic, minced
- 6boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 2 pounds, pounded flat
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 6sprigs fresh thyme plus 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- ⅓cup chopped shallots
- 12ounces small button mushrooms, quartered
- 2tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼cup dry white wine
- 1tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar
- ⅓cup flour
- 2eggs, beaten
- ¾cup dry bread crumbs
- 4tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 6lemon wedges
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
413 calories; 24 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 716 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Combine lemon juice, half the olive oil and half the garlic in a shallow dish that can hold chicken in a single layer. Add chicken, turn to coat, dust with salt and pepper and top with thyme sprigs. Cover and refrigerate about 6 hours.
Step
2
About 45 minutes before serving, heat remaining olive oil in a 10-inch skillet. Add shallots and remaining garlic and sauté on medium until soft. Add mushrooms and sauté, stirring, until they are moist and softened, starting to color and have exuded juices. Shut off heat. Dissolve mustard in wine and mix in vinegar. Reheat mushrooms, add mustard mixture and cook on medium-high until liquid has reduced to thickness of heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.
Step
3
Place flour in a shallow bowl, eggs in another bowl and bread crumbs in a third. Discard thyme sprigs from chicken. Dip chicken thighs, 1 at a time, lightly in flour, then egg, then crumbs to coat both sides. Set on a plate. Heat grapeseed oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron. Sauté chicken cutlets on medium until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side in 2 shifts. Remove to a serving platter as they are done. Tent with foil to keep warm.
Step
4
Reheat mushrooms and add thyme leaves. Place some mushroom mixture on each cutlet along with a lemon wedge and serve.
Ratings
4
out of 5
896
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Cooking Notes
Kate
The marinade and classic cooking method for the cutlets are excellent but I thought the mushroom dressing was a dud. It doubles the time to cook the dish, adds to the cost, and produces an uninteresting and almost sour flavor (wine/mustard/balsamic) that looks like a muddy sauce and has no resemblance to the photo, by the way; hate when they do that.
Better to just sauté the mushrooms in garlic and shallots and add to the finished chicken.
will
I love this recipe and will make it again, but I'll sub pork liver for the chicken and dredge it in corn flakes and serve its with raspberry jam and anchovies. I am just kidding, to express my admiration for Chef Florence who has to put up with all these mindless cavils from people wh think they know how to cook better than she does. I have never had a problem with following any of these recipes to the letter.
Hopbell
I love this recipe and I'm making it again this evening for Sunday Dinner. A tip on pounding chicken thighs: the meat is not as yielding as breast meat so I trim the bone side of the thigh of the knobs and loose pieces then gently pound them flat. The scraps of thigh that remain I use for soup or other stuff.
Don't omit the lemon! It's needed to cut the rich flavors.
Roni Jordan
I'm planning to make this tonight but will kick up the flavor using some additions I use for another breaded chicken recipe - add about 1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano, grated lemon peel, and dried herbs to the bread crumbs.
Coni
We loved this dish! It does take some time to prepare the mise en place but it was well worth it. In the future, I will double the mustard mixture and include more mushrooms.
Barbara
Made this with chicken breast cutlets and panko for the bread crumbs. The cutlets were juicy and crisp, the sauce delicious. A definite winner. However, I'm not sure why anyone would cook the chicken after finishing the sauce. I certainly managed to cook them at the same time and didn't end up needing to reheat the sauce.
jal
We loved this dish. I substituted chicken breasts with no adjustments. Next time I would double the mustard mixture.
Wil
Made this almost as is, came out great. I lived in Dijon for a while in the 90's and this dish is reminiscent of the food I had in friends homes. I did add lardons of slab bacon to the mushrooms and used cremini mushrooms. Served it with haricot verts and homemade egg noodles. Solid ,almost epic meal.
Barbara
Thinking of trying this with baked chicken. The dressing/gravy sounds very good! I am not a fan of breaded and fried cutlets. But if I browned my thighs, then while the chicken was baking use the same cast iron pan to make my gravy....
Mike Michaud
Lotta work. But very worth it. Two things: 1) I followed the advice of others and doubled the sauce portion, 2) I stirred a little cream into the sauce once it was all combined to thicken it and that worked out quite well (but of course made it less healthy). Served with mashed potatoes and green beans. A terrific meal!
Hopbell
Great advice on pounding thighs! I make this recipe all the time and have even used bone-in thighs but boneless is my favorite!
Jackie
I made this tonight, for the 2nd time, and it was so much better than the first....it needs much more liquid, so either half the amount of chicken, or double the liquid...just bread crumbs for the cutlets, delicious. Served over Arugula with Olive Oil and lemon....simple and perfect!
Fatso
I tried this once. The chicken was tender, but I would rate the taste as "so-so." I may try this again, but this is not high on my list of favorites.
Gail Cowan
Used chicken thighs, but breasts would work if you prefer. A few steps, but it was unusually good especially with the contrasting textures and balanced flavors. The mushroom sauce and lemon juice was critical. Would absolutely make it again.
Michele Wells
Hello fellow cooks, I am doing this with green beans and pappardelle. I have skipped the bread crumbs and eggs and just sautéed in the marinade and mushroom sauce. Very unorthodox, but it worked great! By the way, a great way to pound chicken thighs is with a real metal hammer, as in the kind you use to pound nails. Cover the chicken with film, and pound for a few minutes with the hammer on each segment. That's what I use and it is a snap.
lance
Quite good but too much balsamic for my taste. Might use a teaspoon rather than a tablespoon next time. Had with a side of asparagus.
Cam
Less Balsamic
Steve
My wife and I really loved this dish! We both felt the sauce was delicious, but a bit overpowering. Personally, I'd reduce the mustard by 1/2 to 1/3 of what's called for and increase the amount of wine by 50%. (I loved the flavors; just want it to be a bit more subtle.) Also, I used boneless thighs, which is the only way to pound them flat. Even so, I would increase the cooking time on each side by a couple of minutes. I had some that were definitely undercooked. I'll make it again though!
citymom
can use as veal sauce as well
frieswiththat
Absolutely 5 star! Loved it. Minor modifications I made to sauce. I made more sauce quantity with somewhat less mustard, as suggested by many. Also added 3 anchovy fillets to sauce while cooking it and a tablespoon of sour cream at the end. Squeeze of lemon at the end added a lot. So delicious! I wish there were leftovers for lunch.
Djhrick
I made this as written. It was really good, but I am not sure I will make it again as written. Next time I would like to try it without all the breading. I want to marinate the chicken and then quickly sauté it with maybe a thin flour or cornstarch coating. The mushrooms were delicious!
tiff
This recipe did not turn out well for me. I thought the mustard mushroom sauce tasted bitter.
Tara
I made this tonight and we did not like it all. We are big mustard fans so I though we would love it. It was way to vinegar-y for us. I followed the recipe exactly so I was disappointed. We ended up with chicken cutlets over salad tonight instead. It was my first NY Times Cooking fail so I can't really complain.
Jeanie
I liked the mushroom sauce. Used cremini mushrooms and a very dry vermouth for the white wine. I think both gave the sauce a little more depth. A nice and easy weeknight meal
Regina
Make sure you actually pound these thin. We had giant thighs and didn’t pound them thin enough. Then they had to stay in oven for a while to be sure they cooked through. Agree with others. Cut the mustard down. It’s too much.
Regina
Just use breasts. We used thighs. Didn’t pound them Thin enough. Epic fail. And the mushroom dressing has too much mustard.
mindy
This was a hit! I followed to a T. Definitely saved for future use. The mushroom dressing has a tang, but we liked it.
Irene
In order to make sure that the breading adheres to the chicken I suggest refrigerating the breaded chicken for one hour before frying.
Rosemary
I made this tonight but didn’t Bread or pound the thighs. I tripled the mushrooms used too. It was divine!
Luther
This was excellent! A really great recipe that is terrific for a special occasion or for company. This has a wonderful combination of flavors as a result of the marinating, coating and saute. The mushrooms are really quite good and ramps up the taste considerably. Followed the recipe as written. Absolutely no changes needed here. Many thanks for a real treat.
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