Chef, author and restaurateur Erin French is stopping by the TODAY kitchen to share some of her favorite recipes from her new cookbook "Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments from The Lost Kitchen." She shows us how to make perfectly crisp chicken cutlets with mustard and a simple green salad made with edible flowers and careful composition.
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Chicken breasts get a bad rap when it comes to choice pieces from the whole bird. But if they are dredged and pan-fried to a golden crisp and served with mustard, a heavy hand of Parmesan, and a floral-yet-savory fennel pollen, there isn't a thigh or a leg you could trade me for them. If you are entertaining, you can prepare almost everything ahead of time, then just fry up the cutlets when you are ready to serve. Make it a meal with a nice, fresh salad.
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite bedtime tales was from a 1960s book by English author Molly Brett. It was a story about a group of woodland creatures — hedgehogs, owls, frogs, rabbits — who were looking for a place to build their home. They encountered all sorts of challenges along the way, but once they found the perfect spot, they all croaked and hooted at once: "This is the place for me!" In celebration of their homecoming, they collected treasures from the forest to make a special meal. It was the simplest, most gorgeous salad, made of succulent lettuce leaves dotted with forget-me-nots, and they served their creation on lily pads. Even at a young age, I could understand the magic that could come from such a dish.
To me, the perfect salad is one that looks like it fell from the heavens into a sky-high mound. (I'm always telling the ladies, "Tight and tall!") The leaves should be recognizable as belonging to a head of lettuce (no puny leaves or torn-up lettuce — a salad should be served with a steak knife!) and just misted with vinaigrette. This recipe is sort of like the Universal Salad Standard. As long as you follow these basic guidelines, you're guaranteed to make big, beautiful ones from here on out.
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