Chicken Piccata
I love Chicken Piccata because it gives a home cook a taste of what it's like to cook in a “white table cloth” restaurant…meaning you are doing dynamic technical cooking on a hot stove “a la minute” or “to order.”
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts, boneless skinless
- 1 pinch salt
- 30 g all-purpose flour, for dredging
- 30 g olive oil
- 25 g garlic (6-8 cloves), finely minced
- 30 g capers, drained
- 3 g all-purpose flour, for sauce
- 200 g white wine, dry, preferably Chardonnay
- 100 g chicken stock
- 10 g lemon juice
- 75 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into tablespoon-sized cubes
- 5 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- ⅙ lemon Lemon zest
- 1 pinch of salt to finish
Instructions
- Slice each breast in half horizontally so you have two thin pieces, or 4 in total.
- Place sliced breasts into a freezer bag and pound to a ¼" thick using the bottom of a sauce pan.
- Season pounded chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and let dry brine/cure for 5–10 minutes.
- Next dredge each cutlet in AP flour, shaking off excess. Let them sit for 5 minutes then dredge again right before cooking.
- Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil (neutral or olive oil) in a large sauté pan over medium high. Once the oil shimmers, lay the cutlets in and cook undisturbed for 3 minutes until the first side is the color of golden toasted bread with a nice crust. During the fry on the first side make sure to press the cutlet into the pan for 15-20 seconds to ensure maximum surface area contact with the hot pan.
- Flip and cook the second side for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Wipe out the pan and return to medium-low heat, then add the dried off capers and let them sizzle for about 1 minute or until they are softer and taking on a little bit of color.
- Stir in minced garlic and a little more oil and cook gently for about 90 seconds over medium low heat until it's fragrant and just starting to take on color. Keep the garlic moving constantly to prevent burning. If the garlic is starting brown, add tiny splash of water to cool pan and introduce steam.
- Sprinkle in the 3g of AP flour and stir to combine.
- Pour in white wine and scrape up anything stuck to the pan. Let it reduce over medium heat until nearly dry or when running your spatula through leaves a wide trail.
- Add the chicken stock and reduce by about 50% or until it's slightly thickened, around 2–3 minutes.
- Once stock is starting to thicken slightly, remove from heat then add the cold cubed butter a few pieces at a time, and the lemon juice, whisking constantly until each addition is melted and incorporated before adding more. The sauce should become glossy, creamy, and smooth. If it looks greasy or broken, add a small splash of water, pull it off the heat completely, and whisk in a bit more cold butter.
- Stir in the chopped parsley and lemon zest. Taste for salt and adjust. Spoon the sauce generously over the chicken cutlets. Serve right away. It's best served freshly cooked.
- Garnish with more parsley and lemon zest grated on a microplane.
If the sauce is too sour, add more butter. Fat tempers acidity. You can also add a tiny splash of stock to dilute. Don't panic…this is an easy fix.
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