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Family Secrets

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The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-American family - with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants.

This is a cookbook-in-process project. If you try any of these recipes please let us know how they turn out, whether or not you had any difficulties, and any clarifying improvements you might recommend to make them foolproof. We will of course acknowledge genuine "test-kitchen" assistance.

Family Secrets #31

Chicken Breasts Mountain Style

By Ray Zara, La Lama Mountain Ovens
From the northern provinces of Piedmont, Venetia, and Lombardy and south to Tuscany lies the area of Italy affectionately referred to by folks in the Italian food business as the "Butter Belt". Our family roots are firmly planted in Italy, but in regions south of this area. Although regional cuisines of Italy vary greatly, our parents were no strangers to products and cooking styles from the northern provinces. Reggiano Parmesan cheese and prosciutto, both from the Parma region, were common ingredients in my mother’s kitchen. And though olive oil superceded the use of butter, and heavy cream was not common in our cooking, exceptions were made for a few special dishes.

Heavy cream reduction is the technique used to produce this elegant dish of chicken breasts. Properly done, cream reductions have broad applications when preparing poultry and sea food, and the finished sauce is sumptuous and elegant. The object of this recipe is to poach the ingredients while the reduction is occurring, thus creating the sauce and the finished dish at the same time.
Chicken breasts mountain style:
Asparagus tips, prosciutto, and cream.
Particular attention to both temperature and timing is required to successfully master this cooking technique. If the temperature is too high the cream will scorch and possibly separate. The sauce will also separate if the reduction time is too long. The volume of cream in relation to the amount and type of ingredients in the sauté pan is also important. For example, if you do not have enough cream in the proper sized pan, the reduction will occur and the chicken will be underdone. It would be safe to assume that having a little too much cream in the sauté pan would be better than not having enough.

Other key ingredients are prosciutto ham and asparagus tips. When purchasing prosciutto it is usually sliced very thin. However, for this recipe you will want to tell your butcher to slice it about ¼ inch thick. When you are ready to prep the ham cut it first into ¼ inch wide strips on the diagonal, so you will have julienned ham with some substance to it, then cross cut the julienne into chunks. Fresh asparagus is recommended, but frozen asparagus tips can be used when fresh ones are not available.

For those of you who are attempting a cream reduction for the first time, the following recipe will serve two and everything is sized for a 10 inch sauté pan. After successfully completing it a few times you will get a feel for cream reductions and can move on to using this technique for other dishes and larger dinners.

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Chicken Breasts Mountain Style

Total Ingredients to serve two:

  • 2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 tsp. clarified butter
  • 1 ¾ cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • 1 dash of nutmeg
  • 4 oz. prosciutto ham, sliced into strips on the diagonal
  • ¾ cup asparagus tips - fresh preferred, frozen if necessary

Step One: Prepare the chicken breasts

Trim the chicken breasts of all fat and remove the tenderloin. Remove any membrane that may be attached and, using the heel of your hand, gently flatten slightly each breast lobe.

Step Two: Sauté the breasts

Place a 10 inch, heavy bottom sauté pan over medium heat and add the clarified butter. Sauté the breasts gently for two minutes on each side. Remove the breasts and discard any remaining butter. Wipe pan with paper towel.

Step Three: Start cream reduction

Place the cream and the dash of nutmeg in sauté pan and return to medium heat. Return the chicken breasts to the pan. When cream comes to a fairly strong simmer, reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Turn chicken breasts often.

Step Four: Add prosciutto and asparagus tips, and finish

After two minutes of reduction add prosciutto and asparagus tips. Turn chicken breasts over frequently. Continue until cream is reduced by half and the chicken breasts are done. This should take approximately 8 minutes more or ten minutes total..

Presentation should begin with placing two breast halves on each plate. Using a slotted spoon, place the prosciutto ham and asparagus tips over and around the chicken breasts. Drizzle the pan sauce over all. Use some finely chopped parsley for a little garnish and the dish is complete.

This recipe will not garner a feature spot with Weight Watchers International. Looking back to my formative years I recall both my mother's and father’s advice concerning our eating habits: "everything in moderation". This advice has served me well over the years.

Altitude Adjustment: At 8,000 ft. add another ¼ cup cream and increase reduction time by about 5 minutes.
©1998-2006 REZara - Attributed Copies Permitted for Small Quantity Non-Commercial Use Only.
Commercial and Quantity Reproduction Requires Written Permission
La Lama Mountain Ovens, 2055 Lama Mtn., HC81 Box 26, Questa, NM 87556, Tel: 505-586-2286

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