Chicken Dinner

Chicken Piccata

I was trying to think of a new way to make chicken for dinner.  I have always loved the flavor of the sauce on Chicken Piccata.  The lemon and the wine combine in a creamy and delicious sauce.  This is my attempt to recreate the recipe at home.

Chicken piccata often calls for thin cut chicken or chicken scaloppini.  Instead of paying more per pound for thinner chicken breasts, I did the work myself.  Just pound the chicken until it is as thin as you prefer (about 1/2 inch).  I got to use my new Pampered Chef meat tenderizer that my step-mom got for me.  It makes this part so easy!

Make sure you brown the chicken well and then let it simmer away in the sauce while it finishes cooking.

Serve it over whole wheat angel hair pasta using the sauce to dress the pasta, or serve it with roasted potatoes and green beans.  

Chicken Piccata (adapted from FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T all purpose flour

1-3 T olive oil or cooking spray

1 T chopped garlic

Half of a lemon, juice and zest

1/2 C chicken broth (homemade or store bought)

1/2 C dry white wine

1 T capers

1 T butter

3 T fresh parsley or 1 T dried

Directions:

Pound chicken breasts so they are about 1/2 inch thick.  Salt and pepper as you like (I do 1 t kosher salt and 1/2 t cracked black pepper).  Sprinkle 1 T of the flour to coat both sides of the chicken breasts.  

Heat a large pan with olive oil over medium heat.  Add the chicken to the hot pan and let it brown about 3 minutes and then flip and let the other side brown.  Remove the chicken from the pan.  Add a little more oil if the pan looks dry.  Add the garlic and let it cook for about a minute.  Add the wine and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan.  Let it cook out until there is about half of the wine left.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, lemon juice and zest and the chicken broth.  Add to the pan and let it simmer and reduce for a few minutes.  Add the capers and chicken back into the sauce and let it simmer another 2-3 minutes.  

Plate chicken and pour sauce over.  Garnish with parsley.  Serve over pasta or with my  Roasted Parmesan Potatoes.