Chicken Piccata

I LOVE this classic Italian dish. It's tender, with the most decadent mix of richness, zesty citrus, and salt. Literally, one of the best culinary combinations ever created. We're not just talking saltiness, we're talking about that amazing briny flavor you can only get from capers. Thinking about this and looking at the picture above is making my mouth water!! Luckily I have left over portions for lunch, so I will be enjoying more of this in a bit!

Typically, Italians use veal for this dish and if you've ever had veal piccata....omg...but I totally understand that veal is controversial, so I digress. For Americans, chicken has become the meat of choice for this dish which works just as well as veal. Piccata is an Italian culinary term meaning "to pound flat". In general, this dish is very simple - with a sauce composed of butter, lemon juice, stock, and capers.

I'm telling you, you cannot go wrong with this meal. It's easy, uses simple everyday ingredients, doesn't take a lot of time or expertise, and your mouth and stomach will thank you.

For the purpose of this post, to give you measurements, I'm using Giada De Laurentiis's recipe. I never use an actual recipe, I just always eyeball and taste.

With that, here we go!

Ingredients:

2 Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts butterflied, and cut in half

6 Tbl Butter

1 C All purpose flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

5 Tbl Extra virgin olive oil

1/3 C Fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)

1/2 C Chicken stock

1/4 C Brined capers, rinsed

1/3 C Fresh parsley, chopped

How To:

1. Place chicken between two layers of plastic wrap and pound thin. You won't have to pound this out too much since they're already butterflied. I mostly just pound out the thicker end to the same thickness as the bottom to ensure even cooking.

2. Season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

3. Dredge chicken in flour, making sure all surfaces of the chicken are coated.

4. In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 Tbl butter with 3 Tbl olive oil. Add 2 pieces of chicken to the skillet once the oil/butter starts to sizzle.

5. Cook chicken 3 minutes on each side. The internal temperature of the cooked chicken should be 165 degrees F.

6. Remove chicken and transfer to a plate.

7. Add 2 more Tbl butter and another 2 Tbl olive oil. Add the other 2 pieces of chicken and cook 3 minutes on each side.

8. Remove chicken and place on a plate, and remove skillet from heat.

9. Add capers, stock, and lemon juice to the skillet. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom to incorporate the browned bits of chicken (this is called fond - adds a tremendous amount of flavor to your dish).

10. Return chicken to the skillet, reduce heat to medium low and let chicken simmer in sauce for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to a platter. Add remaining 2 Tbl butter to sauce and whisk. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

Mangia Bene!!!