Macaroni Grill Chicken Milanese Copycat Recipe

I love the Chicken Milanese at Macaroni Grill so I had to figure out a way to make a copycat version of it!  This is pretty darn close.  I love this mix of the zippy lemon butter sauce and sweet balsamic glaze.  It's delicious served with a salad of baby greens and/or baby arugala with tomato, fresh basil, and a little fresh parmesan and then balsamic glaze over the salad as well.  This recipe will make 10-12 chicken tenders.

Chicken
10-12 chicken tenders
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. milk
Italian breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan (optional)
Butter or olive oil
Balsamic Glaze

Pound the chicken tenders between two pieces of plastic wrap until it's about 1/4" thick.  With a fork, whisk together the eggs and milk.  Heat a large frying pan over medium to medium high heat.  Add 2 Tbsp. of either butter or olive oil to the hot pan just before adding the chicken to it.  Get out two shallow bowls or pie tins.  Add the egg mixture to one and fill the other with 1 to 1 1/2 c. Italian breadcrumbs.  Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture then in the breadcrumbs.  Brown the chicken well on both sides until well browned and cooked through.  Transfer the chicken to a glass dish in the oven and keep the oven on warm.  This will keep it warm while you finish all the chicken and the sauce.  While chicken is browning, cook the lemon butter sauce.

Lemon Butter Sauce
2 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. white cooking wine
2 oz. heavy cream
1/2 clove garlic
2 sticks butter (1/2 lb)
salt and pepper

Heat the lemon juice and white wine over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and reduce it by a third.  Add cream and 1/2 clove of garlic.  Simmer until it thickens about 3-4 minutes.  Slowly add the butter in pieces until it is completely incorporated.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat but keep it warm until you serve it (which should be right away).

SERVING IT
To serve the chicken, place 2 chicken tenders on your plate.  Then add 1-2 Tbsp. of the lemon butter sauce over it.  Then lightly drizzle the balsamic glaze over it.  Eat immediately!

This would also be good with just a little pasta or risotto and the above mentioned salad served with it.  Mmmm!

Basil Cream Sauce Chicken

My neighbor Dilene gave me this recipe this week and we tried it and LOVED it!  It is so good and so easy!  We served it with medium shell pasta so the extra sauce went over the shells and the boys thought it was like gourmet mac and cheese.  This will definitely be a keeper at our house!

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 4 chicken breasts cut into halves (8 pieces)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Optional: I like to pound and flatten the chicken out a little so it cooks evenly throughout.
• Place milk and bread crumbs in seperate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with crumbs. In a skillet over medium heat cook chicken in butter until browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet and keep in a 9x13 pan in the oven on warm.
• Add chicken broth to skillet and stir to loosen up browned bits from pan. Stir in cream, basil, and pepper and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and whisk in parmesan cheese. Pour sauce over the chicken and serve.