Chicken Piccata

I was really craving some chicken piccata this week 

which I usually only eat at restaurants so I decided

to make it at home.

I was doing my research for which recipe I was going to use

and so many of the recipes were VASTLY different.

I thought this dish was pretty straight forward, boy was I wrong.

I've said before that this blog is a place for my honest thoughts

so I am certainly going to tell you when my

cooking adventures don't go as planned, this was one such day.

Don't worry, it ended in a yummy dish but it took a while to get there.

First when I was researching I was finding a bunch of recipes that

didn't use white wine, but instead only chicken broth.

Now I don't drink alcohol, but I certainly cook with it and I can

 understand people who are afraid to cook with wine simply because they haven't before.

BUT GUESS WHAT, It cooks out people! Leaving no alcohol and simply a yummy

yummy taste that simply isn't attainable any other way. So no need to be afraid!

Simple rule of thumb? Pinot Grigio for white wine recipes,

and Pinot Noir for red ones. Stay between $8-10 when buying a bottle

of wine and you will ensure buying a quality bottle. If you are uncomfortable

buying drinking wine, you can buy cooking wine, but honestly

it DOES affect some recipes, go with the real stuff.  

I eventually went with a Martha Stewart recipe.

I don't want to bash on Martha because I think she is brilliant,

but boy was this recipe off!

I followed it as written and when I went to do a little QC (quality control, IE: taste test) and

it was so lemony it was almost in-edible.

The proportions of lemon juice to wine were not right and I spent a while

adding in more butter and wine to calm down the lemon.

luckily it turned out great in the end but it was definitely an experiment in the kitchen

last night!

Here is my improved Chicken Piccata recipe! 

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Cutlets (or chicken breasts pounded thin)

Flour

Italian bread crumbs

Milk

The juice of 1/2 lemon (needs to be fresh)

1/2 cup White Wine (for those of you none-alcohol drinkers a Pinot Grigio works fine, or just some cooking wine you can find in the vinegar section of your grocery store)

1 TBSP. Capers drained and rinsed throrougly (you can find capers by the olives at the grocery store)

3 TBSP. Butter

2 TBSP. EVOO

1 TBSP. Fresh Parsley

Directions:

1. Many classic Chicken Piccata recipes have you dredge the cutlets in flour only, however I like a little bit more crust on mine, so set up your stations! Flour on one plate, milk in a bowl next to the flour, and italian breadcrumbs on the last plate.  Go down the line coating the chicken first in flour then in the milk and finally in the bread crumbs.  

***ALWAYS salt and pepper your flour and breadcrumbs first.  Otherwise your chicken will be bland

2. Now you are ready to cook your cutlets.  On medium-high heat add 2 TBSP. of EVOO to a frying pan.  and when hot add your cutlets.  Cook until golden brown and then flip.  When cooked through transfer to a pan with a cooling rack on top of it and keep in the oven on warm until ready to serve.

(keeps your chicken warm and cripsy!)

3. Once you take your cutlets out of your frying pan turn down the heat to low and add the capers followed by your wine, butter, and lemon.  Cook for a few minutes until the wine cooks down

to about half.  Scrape the bottom of the pan to get the brown bits incorporated

into the sauce.

4.  If you need to thicken up the sauce add about a teaspoon of flour and whisk so there are no clumps.

5. Add parsley

6.  Now you are ready to plate your chicken.  Put your chicken on a plate 

and pour sauce over the top for a nice presentation.  Traditionally this dish

is served with angel hair pasta, but you can really do anything! Veggies, 

mashed potatoes, you name it!