Dressed Up Dolly

When your sister says, "How come you never...?", what she really means is "I want you to..." And since we're making the same dish tonight, albeit in two different ways in two different tiny apartment kitchens, this seems as good a time as any to let her think she can get her way.

Around our home, breaded chicken breasts or cutlets browned in olive oil with lemon slices and sherry is known as Dolly chicken, named after the lovely culinary genius Aunt Dolly, our mother's aunt and the closest we've had to a grandmother in our lives. Anything that Aunt Dolly makes tastes better than anything else in the world, no matter what it is. I don't know what it is she does, but I suspect she employs some sort of Sicilian sorcery; everything she makes with her two hands is simply delicious. Family logic demands that when we try to replicate her recipes, we call them "Dolly X." Dolly chicken. Dolly burgers. Dolly rice. Dolly broccoli. Dolly... eggplant parmesan. Dolly coffee cake. (The secrets to some of these things are silly, you know. Dolly rice is actually risotto milanese, but we didn't know that for a good long while, and I'm pretending I've never, ever heard the story that Dolly coffee cake is Duncan Heinz.)

When I lived at home, Dolly chicken was pretty much a weekly staple, because it was easy, fast, and made with sherry. These are all good things for week night cooking. I had some chicken tenders in the fridge tonight--I stock up on these because it's cheaper and easier cooking for one to buy tenders instead of breasts--and after going through a list of meals I really didn't want to make or eat, I decided on the fallback that is always good, Dolly chicken. And for reasons inexplicable--or maybe just because cooking is soothing and my subconscious wanted to destress without alerting me to said stress, I decided that regular Dolly chicken wasn't quite enough for tonight. I wanted to make something more. I really, really liked the results.

(I unfortunately do not have a photo of the results because my camera's lost its charge and none of the batteries I have seem to be working. Next time.)

Dressed Up Dolly Chicken
1 lb-ish chicken breasts, cutlets, or tenders
2 egg whites, beaten just slightly
seasoned breadcrumbs
grated parmesan cheese (or romano, asagio, whatever's handy)
lemon zest
lemon juice
dry or cream sherry
capers
marinated (or plain, whatever trips your tongue) artichokes, one small jar

In a large bowl or on a plate, pour out your desired amount of breadcrumbs--however much it's going to take for the amount of chicken you have--and combine with a good full handful or two of cheese and the zest of a lemon. Dip chicken into egg whites and then thoroughly coat with breadcrumb mixture. Add olive oil to a medium-to-large skillet over medium-to-low heat, and place the chicken. When the bottom begins to brown, turn the chicken pieces and add the juice of one lemon. (If capers and artichokes aren't your thing, cut up another lemon into thin, translucent slices and use them to cover the chicken at this point--the chicken will get lemony and stay nice and moist that way. The capers will give it a slight salty bite.) Sprinkle the skillet with capers and drained artichokes. When the chicken's nearly done, add a splash of sherry to the bottom of the pan. As soon as the alcohol cooks off, you're done and ready to serve.

We generally have this with parmesan orzo or rice pilaf, it's a nice side to the sweet, citrusy chicken. I also like it with steamed broccoli--or peas. Pease go with everything.