Week Night Dinner: Chicken Piccata

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Devany

Week Night Dinner: Chicken Picatta

So easy, so delicious and made with just a few simple ingredients. I served it with pasta as the extra sauce goes perfectly with it. We had a salad as a final course. I buy boneless breasts on sale and freeze. I  always have  lemons and capers on hand. and of course you can do this with veal or pork cutlets too.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup flour
• garlic salt
• fresh cracked pepper
• crushed red pepper to taste
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 dry white wine or dry vermouth
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice (I used Meyer)
• 1/2 cup brined capers
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

METHOD

• Put the chicken breasts between two pieces of waxed paper and pound them with a meat hammer to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut them up into pieces a little smaller than the palm of your hand.
• Put the cheese and a bit of parsley into a mini processor and process till the cheese is about the size of couscous.
• Mix together  flour, salt, peppers, and grated Parmesan.  Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, until well coated. *Note some people like a thicker coating, if you do dredge in plain flour first, then in an egg wash and finally in the cheese and flour mixture. I like mine lightly breaded.
•  Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces, do not crowd the pan. Brown well on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve to an oven proof pan. Place in a warming drawer or a 300 degree oven. Cook the remaining chicken pieces,  remove from pan. Keep warm in the oven while you prepare the sauce.

• On medium/low heat. Add the wine & lemon juice to the pan and stir to deglaze and loosen. Add capers to the pan. Reduce the sauce by half.

• Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce poured over the chicken. Garnish with remaining parsley. Use extra sauce on pasta and toss.
• If you have left over breading, you can toast it on a silpat and use it as a topping for other things.