Chicken Oscar
Chicken Oscar
Chicken Oscar

Chicken Oscar

David Venable

Have a red carpet moment and make this elegant meal for your family and friends on Oscars night.

For the Dish

  • 4 (5-oz or 6-oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 5 oz jumbo lump crabmeat
  • 16 spears of asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Hollandaise Sauce

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup butter

Directions

To prepare the asparagus, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the asparagus and boil until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
To prepare the chicken, first mix the flour, salt, and pepper on a medium-sized plate and set aside. Lay the breasts in between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound the chicken to 1/2'' thickness. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and coat completely; pat off any excess.
Heat the oil in a medium, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken breasts on both sides until browned and firm, about 3 minutes per side.
Remove the chicken (and keep warm until ready to serve), then add the onion to skillet and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes.
Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes. Sauté until most of the moisture has evaporated, then season with salt and pepper. Decrease the heat to low and add the crabmeat; toss gently, just until hot.
To prepare the hollandaise, put the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, mustard, and cayenne in a blender; set aside.
Heat the butter in a small pan until bubbly; be careful not to burn.
Cover the blender, pulse well to combine, and continue pulsing while very slowly pouring the melted butter into the blender. Stop pulsing when the mixture has thickened.
To serve, set one chicken breast on each plate and arrange 4 asparagus spears on top. Spoon the crab mixture over the asparagus and drizzle with hollandaise.

Cook's Notes

You can prepare all the ingredients except the hollandaise sauce a day ahead to save time.