What's For Dinner?

Baby Sprout is stretching out today, pushing on my lungs until I am short of breath at the same time she rams her head into my bladder. Long, luxurious stretching, the kind done late on a Sunday morning when you finally wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs, Libby laughing in the living room while John makes breakfast. Those stretches feel so good when I do them, how can I begrudge Baby Sprout her stretches? After all, she spends her days curled up, knees to chin - I'm sure she needs the stretches more than any of the rest of us!

Anyway, on to dinner.

Lemon Chicken

Any "Everybody Loves Raymond" fans out there? Every time I make this dish I laugh inside knowing how much everyone hates Debra's Lemon Chicken. But this stuff is good. Recipe courtesy of my SIL, Joyce.

1-2 lbs chicken tenders (just however much your family will eat)
Veg or Canola oil (enough to keep the bottom of your skillet covered)
1 cup flour (for GF use Rice Flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 c lemon juice (fresh is best, but the bottled stuff isn't bad)

OK, pour in a good amount of oil and heat it over med heat
Mix flour, salt, and pepper on a plate
Dredge chicken in flour and cook in oil (about 3 min each side)
Remove chicken and let drain on paper towels.
Pour off used oil, leaving about a 1/2 cup in the pan
Add the flour from the plate and mix well
Add 1 cup of broth and mix it all up, removing all lumps
Add 2 more cups of broth* and the lemon juice
Mix well, return chicken to mix, and let simmer for about 5 minutes or so.
Serve over rice

*I have found that when using rice flour, I need to add about 3 additional cups of water to get the sauce thin enough. I've never made it with wheat flour. Basically, add water until it's as thin as you want it. If you add too much, just let it simmer longer and it will thicken up.

For leftovers, you'll need to add even more water and mix it up before you reheat it. I like to reheat it on the stove instead of the microwave. It takes longer but you can make sure the sauce isn't getting glue-y.

In Joyce's family, this dish is really popular with the kids. Libby likes it, too. Hey Joyce - remember when I hated this and you used to make me my own chicken with no sauce? Yeah, I love it now!

Enjoy!