I am sitting on the couch watching Love Island, which for those above the age of 40 ( which is most of you) is a terribly trashy show ( I highly do not reccomend) in which a bunch of SIMPS come to find gather on an island and stir up some REAL GOOD shit. All the girls have a lot of lip filler, and the boys are kind of babies. Anyway, I dont recommend, and rather than just watching it and killing my brain cells, I thought I would multi task and also write about my chicken piccata. I made this in the beginning of June which makes me sad, summer has peaked and we are only heading down, the bottom of the hill holds a big pile of snow and pasty legs...
Not on the note of pasty legs; This is a classic Italian- American dish, and not something I ever really loved when I was a kid, which is ironic. I think the tangyness and forwardness of the wine bothered my in-experienced youthful taste buds, however, thats not the case anymore and both aspects are what I appreciate now about this dish.
Notes
You can use a butterflied breast or skinless/boneless chicken thighs for this recipe. Some folks can buy already cutlet-ed chicken at the store, but if you buy a whole breast you are going to want to cut it in half ( or butterfly it) this will give us a crispier, lighter and more tender chicken.
Use a dry white wine like a pinot grigio, or vermentino and have it ready to pour into the pan the second the garlic and shallots are done and fragrant.
Serve with a nice baguette or crusty piece of bread for slopping up some of that dreamy sauce left over. A nice salad or simply cooked veg is also a great option to include with this. Msshed or crispy roasted potatoes would also be. agreat vessel to hold this velvet-ey sauce.
I think serving this with pasta or spaghetti kind of makes this a heavi-er and less vibrant sumer-y dish, it also gives me.... ~Olive Garden, and is not my favorite way to east chicken picata, but please, DO AS YOU DO!
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt to taste
1 tspn pepper
1 shallot minced
4 garlic cloves minced
2 hefty teaspoons capers plus a little juice
3 anchovy filets
3 tablespoons butter plus more for sauce
2 lemons juiced
1/4 cup wine
1/2 cup chicken or veg stock
1/2 cup flour
olive oil
any chopped fresh herbs!
Prep and Fry your chicken
Slice the chicken breasts horizontally. You will need a sharp knife for this- butterflying the chicken breasts will help the chicken cook evenly and become more crispy. once you finish butterflying each breast you should have 4 pieces of cutleted breast. Salt and pepper each side of each piece generously and set aside.
Dredging and frying the chicken. Place your flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Diping each piece of chicken into the flour and making sure you are evenly coating each side. Place dredged pieces back on the plate you had your cutlets on to star and set aside.
In a large shallow frying pan heat up your butter and a good glug of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons?) and place heat on medium. The oil will help keep the butter form buringin! Once your butter/oil is hot, fry your chicken on each side until golden brown on both sides. Place finished, golden chicken on a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside.
Make the dreamy saucey sauce
In the same pan you fried your chicken, lower the heat to med-low and sautee your shallots and garlic until aromatic and fragrant. Take your anchovy filets and smush them around with a knife and make small cuts until almost a paste, throw the anchovies into the pan with the garlic and shallots. stir.
Add in your wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits of leftover chicken, Let this simmer and burn off for a minute or two. once the wine smells less pungent and more just an essence add in your stock and simmer for another 3 minutes stirring often.
Add in a tablespoon or two of butter, add your capers and lemon juice. SImmer for another 3-4 minutes and stir occasionally. At this point the sauce should be getting a bit thicker and glossy. If it's not just yet, continue to simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Once your sauce has thickened , Place your chicken into the sauce pan and reduce to low. Allow the chicken to soak up the sauce and spoon some on top. Add in your herbs and a quick drizz of olive oil , salt to taste!
Enjoy :*
A suggestion: Maybe watch some Love island while you eat this an kill your brain cells while replenishing and educating your pallette... I dunno!!!?
Comments