Chicken Piccata

When I order at an Italian restaurant, it's usually one of two dishes: eggplant parmesan or chicken piccata.  Not so coincidently, there are only two italian meals that I make at home with regularity....you got it.  Eggplant parm is just so perfectly saucy and cheesy and well, eggplanty.  And chicken piccata?  I think it's the lemons and capers. 

I always think that meals require dredging of any kind are laborious and time-consuming.  I clocked it this time and this meal can actually be made in just 20 minutes.  That's less time than most frozen pizzas take from oven preheat to completion.

I happen to use a really large pan (that conducts heat pretty well since the burner is about 1/3 the size of the pan) so I can get all 4 chicken pieces in at one time.  You just want to avoid crowding the pan so that the chicken browns and frys rather than steams.

I feel like chicken broth is one of those magical peace-keeping ingredients that keeps the kitchen going and if I run out the kitchen will spiral into some destructive vortex.  I keep tons of boxes of broth on hand, but I found this little gem at Trader Joes.  It's not exactly "pure" and unadulterated broth, but it's close enough, rather tasty and gets the job done if you run out of broth, or in this case, don't want to open a whole box for a meal.  Each little pouch makes one cup of broth. It's a liquid concentrate, not chicken buillion powder.

Asparagues goes really well with chicken piccata.  I went to the market to with the sole purpose of picking some up for this meal and left the store with 4 bags, none of which held anything that remotely resembled asparagus.  Don't you love when you do that?

Some one year olds do not think that chicken piccata is as tasty as goldfish and chicken nuggets.  However some one year olds do have a certain affinity for a favorite tartan, which makes rejection of said chicken piccata completely forgiveable.  Cuteness wins lots of points.

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thin
AP flour, for dredging
2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4-1/3 cup capers, rinsed
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp unsalted butter

 

Directions

1. Season flour with salt and pepper and garlic powder.
2.  Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
3. In a large skillet over medium high heat drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil and heat.  Add 2-4 (depending on pan size) pieces of chicken to pan taking care not to crowd pan. Cook 4-5 minutes.
4. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 4-5 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.
5. Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter.
6. Add butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and serve with pasta.