Panko Chicken with Mustard-Maple Pan Sauce

Boy, am I a procrastinator! This recipe has been in my folder for almost 10 years and I've looked at it over and over throughout the last decade and always thought it would be great, but somehow managed to convince myself that it could wait until another day! Why?!! Especially when the title sounds so inviting. Well, my friends, Carpe Diem--that's right--Seize the day! Don't follow my example. Make this right away! The judges at home gave it RAVE reviews!!

Not only is it great to add another chicken cutlet recipe to the repertoire, (I mean how tired are you of your current chicken recipes?!) but this is easy enough to pull together on a weeknight yet still feels like you went the extra mile. Even if you're not a big mustard fan (like me) you will love this!

You can pound thicker cutlets thin or take the easy way out and buy thin-sliced cutlets. Either way, you first dip the chicken in an egg/mustard mixture and then coat it with panko crumbs. Then you pan fry them in a little olive oil. The whole thing goes rather quickly because the cutlets are so thin. 

Once the chicken is cooked you make the pan sauce by combining chicken broth, maple syrup, more mustard and a bit of butter together in the pan you've just used and spoon it over the cooked chicken. The chicken is light and crispy and the sauce is both sweet and tangy at the same time. Yum! Definitely a keeper! And I'm sure I'll be making this many times in the decades to come!!

---

Panko Chicken with Mustard-Maple Pan Sauce

Makes 4 servings

Total Time: 30 minutes

This makes 4 small servings so if you're not serving a lot of sides with dinner, I would definitely double the recipe and it's easy to do so. Just use 2 packages of thin-slice cutlets and double the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1 package of thin-slice cutlets or 2 large chicken boneless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise and pounded thin to 1/3 or 1/2 inch thickness

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

• 1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1 cup panko

• salt and pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

For the Sauce

• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (use more if you really like mustard)

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled

The Recipe

1.  In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, parsley and 1 or 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard. Pour panko into a shallow bowl or plate.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dip into egg mixture, and into panko, coating well with the crumbs.

2.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes, per side. When done transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. If you double the recipe, you will definitely have to do this in batches.

3.  While chicken is cooking, whisk together the maple syrup, the chicken broth, and the mustard.  When chicken is done, add the mixture to the same pan and bring it to a boil, stirring every now and then and letting it cook until reduced to about 3/4 cup. This should take about 4-5 minutes. Add the butter and whisk until it's melted.

4.  Place chicken on plates and serve with the sauce alongside it.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from a 2008 Bon Appetit issue. I considerably lowered the amount of mustard used. Use more if you are a mustard fan.