Friday, March 20, 2009

Chicken Picatta

My Picatta has a very light lemon caper sauce and garnished with lemon zest and parsley. I served with Basmati Rice. I use to cook with a friend K, and her family really likes this dish, so this is a shout out to K. She will probably tell you this will get better and better with practice.

The chicken really needs to be cooked just right for this dish to turn out. Repeat after me, I will only turn the chicken 1 time. If you like your plate swimming in sauce you will need to double this recipe.

 
Rinse 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts and place in heavy zip lock bag or between saran sealing losely all the the way around each piece of chicken. Pound til more consistant in thickness and to tenderize.

Prep all other ingredients. Zest 1 Lemon and juice the same Lemon. Get Capers open and place spoon that fits into the jar. Chop 1 Tbl Flat Leaf Parsley. Open 1 Can Chicken Broth.
Preheat 14" pan, empty, over medium heat. In a flat dish (I use pasta plates) add 1 C. Flour and S&P to taste. In a flat dish add 2 Eggs and a splash of water. Beat for 20 seconds til light .

Add Olive Oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Pick up chicken breast and flour, then egg, then flour again. Add to hot pan, you'll hear a slight sizzle. Repeat with each breast. If they won't all fit, cook 3 and cook the 4th separately. Another option is to get 2 pans going and make sauce in the larger of the 2.
Moving on, since the pan is hot, if you shake the pan the chicken will not stick. After about 4 minutes, you will begin to see moisture on the uncooked side. Check to see that you have a golden brown color. When ready, using tongs, flip over carefully. Next side will only take about 3 minutes. Remove and place chicken on a plate, shingling meat so it won't steam and ruin your beautiful coating.
In pan, add lemon juice scraping the pan. Add 8-10 oz Broth and let reduce slightly, that means steaming off some of the water. If you would like it thicker, in a small dish add flour and broth and stir to a thin paste. Add hot broth from the pan and stir, then begin to add that to the pan stirring all the while. Cook for about 3 minutes. Turn off heat. Add capers. Add 2 Tbl Butter to stiffen sauce. You can add chicken back to pan for a few minutes til warm OR plate chicken top with sauce. Garnish with lemon zest and parsley. Serve at once!

3 comments:

Angelica said...

Hi Janice, thanks for stopping by my blog :D Your food looks great, I'll be trying some of the for sure!

Unknown said...

Yay ! We still love it. I do miss cooking with you.

I love your blog and will be visiting it regularly. You're doing great.

Janice said...

Thanks you for stopping by!
Janice