Real Food for Real Life

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

And now for the piccata...


This  is one of our Ina Garten favorites, and one that I have been making for a few years now.  This chicken is simple enough for a weeknight, but delicious enough to serve to company...who could ask for more in a dish (Christopher, age 10, asks for seconds of this one).  I think the next time I make this I will make the chicken pieces even smaller and triple the amount of sauce ingredients, before serving it all over angel hair pasta (I think this will be sooner, rather than later :)...

Chicken Piccata
adapted from Ina Garten

1 1/2 lbs. (about) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs*
good olive oil
3 tbs. butter
1/3 cup lemon juice 
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 small lemon, halved and thinly sliced
chopped fresh parsley for serving 

*I used my own dried breadcrumbs and added a generous amount of black pepper, sweet paprika, and garlic powder.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a baking sheet waiting inside.  If the chicken pieces are large, cut them to desired size (we prefer smaller pieces); using a large, very sharp knife, slice each piece of chicken in half horizontally, then, with your palm of the back of the knife, gently press each piece to a relatively uniform thickness (I really don't like pounding meat and this method works just fine).  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In one bowl, mix the flour with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.  In a second bowl, beat the eggs until lemon colored with about 1 tbs. of water.  In a third bowl place your breadcrumbs (mix them here if preparing your own).  Dip each chicken piece first in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs, ensuring even coverage at each step.  Set the chicken aside for 10 minutes or so to allow the crust ingredients to adhere to each other.

In a large non-stick saute pan, heat 2 tbs. olive oil over medium heat.  Once the pan is nice and hot, start browning the chicken, about 2 minutes per side.  Work in batches so as to not crowd the pan, and as they are finished, place them on the baking sheet in the oven, adding more oil as necessary.  Once the chicken is done, add the lemon juice, wine, and lemon slices to the pan; increase the heat to med-high and cook until reduced by half; stir in the butter until melted and turn off the heat.

To serve...Using kitchen tongs, dip each piece of chicken into the sauce in the pan, turning to coat both sides.   Spoon a bit of the sauce over and sprinkle generously with the chopped parsley.

3 comments:

  1. On Facebook: Pat "likes" this.

    On Facebook:
    Tracey said: I used to make chicken piccata back in the day. Do u remember jeff smith the frugal gourmet (he ended up having child abuse charges against him, but idk if they were true..my gut feeling says they werent) anywho, i used his recipe and it was very good. When I worked at carrabbas, I used to always recommend the angel hair pasta with the piccata!
    July 27 at 10:39pm

    On Facebook:
    Casa En La Cocina said:
    I vaguely remember him (but nothing about charges)...

    I really didn't start into the cooking thing until I stopped working in 98, and then I started with a lot of those "cheater" type recipes, although I guess Sandra Lee has made a whole ind...ustry of them by calling them "semi-homemade." I was also a vegetarian (gasp) for a number of years and used to give Ben things like Banquet chicken so that he could get his animal protein...my goodness, has the eatin' ever got better (although I WAS darn skinny then, lol)...

    My experience of good cooking comes from my grandmothers as mom did little "real" cooking herself (she was WAY beyond semi-homemade), although she did always make chicken an' dumplin's for my birthday (using Grandma Hammer's recipe)...
    July 28 at 9:01am

    On Facebook:
    Tracey said: I was a vegetarian for 11 months and I actually gained weight! i think it could have been all the refined carbs I ate ... :) Its cool u are getting into cooking. I think I was in my major cooking phase from 19-23. I used to cook big breakfasts and dinners for my grandparents and the people that visited. I loved it. Now, I just cant seem to get back into it as much although I make the occasional dish :)
    July 28 at 9:09am

    On Facebook:
    Casa En La Cocina said: As long as you can do it when you want to :) I was skinny cause I was actually a veggie eating vegetarian, but was still working, so not a lot of time to eat anyway...
    July 28 at 9:15a

    On Facebook:
    Tracey said: i could never get into the meat substitutes or soy..so i lived on baked potatoes bread, cheese :) lmao. And I wondered why i gained weight !
    July 28 at 9:20am

    ReplyDelete
  2. On Facebook: Pat 'likes" this.

    On Facebook:
    Tracey Arthur Cecie I used to make chicken piccata back in the day. Do u remember jeff smith the frugal gourmet (he ended up having child abuse charges against him, but idk if they were true..my gut feeling says they werent) anywho, i used his recipe and it was very good. When I worked at carrabbas, I used to always recommend the angel hair pasta with the piccata!
    July 27 at 10:39pm

    On Facebook:
    Casa En La Cocina said:
    I vaguely remember him (but nothing about charges)...

    I really didn't start into the cooking thing until I stopped working in 98, and then I started with a lot of those "cheater" type recipes, although I guess Sandra Lee has made a whole ind...ustry of them by calling them "semi-homemade." I was also a vegetarian (gasp) for a number of years and used to give Ben things like Banquet chicken so that he could get his animal protein...my goodness, has the eatin' ever got better (although I WAS darn skinny then, lol)...

    My experience of good cooking comes from my grandmothers as mom did little "real" cooking herself (she was WAY beyond semi-homemade), although she did always make chicken an' dumplin's for my birthday (using Grandma Hammer's recipe)...See More
    July 28 at 9:01am

    ReplyDelete
  3. On Facebook:
    Tracey said: I was a vegetarian for 11 months and I actually gained weight! i think it could have been all the refined carbs I ate ... :) Its cool u are getting into cooking. I think I was in my major cooking phase from 19-23. I used to cook big breakfasts and dinners for my grandparents and the people that visited. I loved it. Now, I just cant seem to get back into it as much although I make the occasional dish :)
    July 28 at 9:09am

    On Facebook:
    Casa En La Cocina said: As long as you can do it when you want to :) I was skinny cause I was actually a veggie eating vegetarian, but was still working, so not a lot of time to eat anyway...
    July 28 at 9:15am

    On Facebook:
    Tracey said: i could never get into the meat substitutes or soy..so i lived on baked potatoes bread, cheese :) lmao. And I wondered why i gained weight !
    July 28 at 9:20am

    ReplyDelete

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