My biggest obstacle in this however are the other residents in my home. The 15 month old is typically a human garbage disposal and willing to eat anything I put on her plate. Well, at least try it anyhow. My 4 year old, she'll eat sushi, but she won't try a new BBQ sauce and grimaces if I ask her to try a slice of chocolate pie she's never before seen. And my husband.... steak and rice, every day of his life with Teriyaki sauce and he'd be content to never have to consume "spices" ever again. So finding just the right recipe to try out on the critics in my home can be a challenge.
But every once in a while, I throw caution to the wind and pull out my standby bible of recipes The Joy of Cooking. What? You don't have a copy in your kitchen?? My binding is worn. I'm surprised pages aren't falling out yet! When I got married, I registered for this cook book and that cook book. And several years back a chef at a hotel I worked for emptied her shelves for me and I added 20 books to my collection. But do you think I ever open them? Never. My standby, the book that never, ever fails me is my Joy of Cooking. It's not fancy. It's back to the basics. It's usually ingredients I can find in my cabinet. (Usually.) Even if I'm not going to rock a recipe directly, I continue to pull it out just for inspiration.
And this is how I came to Chicken Piccata.
Monday I was in the mood for chicken so I pulled out the book. Flipped to the chapter "All About Chicken" and started perusing the recipes, and ingredients. And wouldn't you know, none to be found. Wait... I didn't even HAVE chicken in the freezer. Did someone say hot dogs and macaroni and cheese? So tonight, we stopped at the grocery store first and chicken breasts were procured. Along with, a lovely jar of capers. Which, I have had, but honestly they have never been stocked in my pantry, nor have I ever cooked with them. Wow. I hope I even LIKE capers... When I got home I opened the jar and popped one in my mouth. You can't cook with something you've never tasted. Voila, ok, it's like an olive, only saltier. I don't like olives. At all. But professional chefs SWEAR by cooking with capers. I have to make this work. They're small, I can stomach it. Who knows, maybe the taste will change when I'm done. And I've had chicken piccata before, I like it...I think.
Book out. Scramble for ingredients. Holy crap, that's a lot of butter!! Dinner ultimately served 4 people, and I used 7 Tablespoons of butter for the whole meal, includes side dishes. So, I guess Weight Watchers is out the door tonight. Hello Butter, hello butt, oh I'll hate the scale Thursday, but it's gonna be worth it tonight!
Here's the Recipe:
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves - and I sliced them into chicken finger size knowing that I was serving a toddler and a pre-schooler who would appreciate the size.
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter - make sure it's unsalted. I used salted and could taste the difference.
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoons minced shallots or scallions - I used dried scallions from my spice rack
- 1 cup chicken stock - BOULLION worked just as well!!
- 3-4 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice - totally used the concentrated stuff
- 2 tablespoons nonpareil capers, drained
- 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened - unsalted, a must.
- Rinse and pat the chicken breasts dry. Trim any fat etc.
- Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper to tast
- Spread the flour on a plate and coat the chicken on both sides. Shake off the excess flour. You really don't want a lot of flower on it, you're not making "fried chicken"
- Heat the butter in a heavy 10-12″ skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant and nut-brown, then add the olive oil. DON'T BURN IT! If you burn the butter, just toss it, wash the pan and start over. No, I didn't burn it this time, but I have done so before and burned butter, is just bad.
- Swirl the butter and oil together, then add the chicken and cook @ 4 minutes each side. Keep the pan as hot as possible without burning. - Chicken is done when it's firm to touch.
- Put it on a plate/platter and keep warm. I used the microwave.
- Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the chicken skillet.
- Heat the scallions or shallots over medium heat and cook, stirring, until wilted about 1 minute.
- Increase the heat to high and add the chicken stock.
- Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to dissolve the brown bits. (those lovely brown bits we call "fond" - remember?)
- Add the lemon juice, and capers and boil until the mixture is reduced to @ 1/3 cup, @ 3-4 minutes.
- Add the accumulated chicken juices and reduce again. Remove from the heat and swirl in the butter. - I didn't have any because I put my chicken on a paper towel to sop up excess oil. I am on Weight Watchers after all.
- Pour sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.
End result? I gobbled it up like it was going out of style. It was by far the best Chicken Piccata I have EVER had. Maybe because I made it, or maybe just because Joy of Cooking is that good, that simple, that yummy. Or maybe it was all that butter.... Even my 4 year old asked if she could try capers when I told her they tasted like little olives. She LOVES olives, the freak.
Can't wait to make this recipe again!
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