Sunny Italy, or sunny anywhere as we hit the beginning of February.  This is a dish that echoes the
warm sunkissed  shores of Campania, where the lemon reigns as king and queen of freshness.  Could
the citrusy bright flavors along with the spicy summer freshness of basil be more evocative of an
August afternoon?  I think not!  Enough of the slow simmered stews and roasts we associate with
this time of year...just for purposes of this blogger's mental health tonight anyway.  Running through
my picture files while working on my book the picture you see above popped out at me.  Thought it
was time to bring a little more sunny cooking into our Winter dreary world.  Basil, although a
summer herb here in the U.S., can be bought in any supermarket fresh these days. It adds so much
additional flavor and freshness to anything you add it to, try picking up some on your next trip to
the market or store. 
     The region in Italy called Campania is in the south and it's foods are probably the most well
known to most Italian-Americans and non Italian-Americans.  This is the land of the tomato, the
blessed San Marzano, the land of Mozzarella, fried doughs and breads, cheesecakes, sausages
bursting with fennel, seafood of all kinds, the meatball, dried macaroni, pizza, fried meats and
eggplant topped with mozzarella, or stuffed with lost of breadcrumbs.  Naples is it's capital and
possibly the largest amount of Immigrants from Italy came from this region, so it is no coin-
cidence that these are the foods we first associate with being Italian.  The lemon which grows
profusely in Capri, along the Amalfi coast, Sorrento, and all over the region is a loved ingredient.

This is a Granita' stand in Capri, you can smell the perfume of those lemons hanging.  Here
they will be pressed(spremuta) along with oranges into cup of shaved ice and sugar creating
a refreshing Grantia' di Spremuta di Limone e d'Arancio. Off the charts.  And even with a
shrinking dollar against the Euro it was reasonable.  These granite immigrated to America
as Italian Ice which you can find in most cities now.
So bearing the fragrant lemon in mind, and adding that spicy Summer flavor from the basil,
I give you POLLO AL LIMONE E BASILICO...Chicken with Lemon and Basil.  Time to cook.

For 6 people use 2 pounded boneless chicken breasts per person..make sure they are no
more than 1/4 inch thick.  Thinner is better, an all too common mistake (in my mind) is when
boneless breasts are too thick in pan fried or sauteed dishes.  The quick cooking and sauc-
ing does not allow the exterior flavors to get inside and many times the chicken is stiff and
stringy.  1/4 inch is your limit on thickness here!  Marinate the chicken in 1 cup of FRESH
squeezed Lemon juice.  No short cutting here with those plastic lemons filled with juice or
a bottle of Real Lemon.  I've thrown this out there before, those are products that really are
obsolete in today's world of produce accessibility.  There is no substitute from the juice of a
fresh lemon.
 

Drege them in seasoned sifted flour(a dash of salt and pepper only). Sifting
while it may seem like something more for a better baked product than a simple dredge
actually lightens up the coating and makes it adhere better.


Beat 3 eggs till golden with 1/8 cup of grated pecorino romano.  Coat well with the egg, letting ex-
cess run off, then a quick dip back into the flour, and into a medium hot pan that you added 3 tbs. of
Olive oil to, along with 2 tsp. of butter.  Gently saute' the chicken for 3-4 minutes per side and drain
on paper towels.  Do this in batches as if you crowd the pan, like every cook will tell you, you will
lower the oil's temp., the coating will take on excess oil and become greasy, and the chicken will
steam, not saute'.  Keep the drained chicken on a platter in a 200 degree oven until you have cooked
them all. 



In the pan you cooked the chicken in, add 2 tbs. of butter, and 1 medium shallot finely diced.  Saute'
this until translucent and soft.  Squeeze in the juice of one lemon and let this reduce somewhat. 
Taste for seasoning, it should be very lemony.  Add the chicken back in and let this simmer for no more
than 5 minutes at which point tear 5 fresh basil leaves over the chicken, making sure all pieces are
well coated, then turn out onto a platter and garnish with lemon slices.



Pollo al Limone e Basilico is another example of Southern Italian cooking styles that do not
contain garlic.  Onion is as popular in most Italian dishes, maybe more popular.  I'll give you
another garlic based dish later in the week, but for now, resist thinking ITALIAN FOOD=
GARLIC.  It's like saying every American dish contains Hot Dogs or Hamburgers.    A dish
that I hope will bring you some fresh new flavor during this seemingly endless cold winter.