Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Ina Garten's Chicken Piccata

Oh mama, do I LOVE piccata! The butter, the lemon, the capers! These light flavors are great for a summer dinner. With traditional dishes its tough to say with utmost confidence, "This is my recipe," because truthfully it's really not. These recipes are passed down through the ages and all we can hope to do is tweak them to match our style of cookery.

For my chicken piccata the basics were already in my head but I wanted a super lemony flavor so I turned to our collective brain trust-the Internet-to compare piccata sauce preparation variations. Most of the recipes online are identical which only validated that my working knowledge of this dish was correct. I knew that I did not want a rue to be my sauce base, so any recipe calling for such a thing close to a rue I dismissed. After my exhaustive comparative analysis, I settled on using Ina Garten's Chicken Piccata recipe for my guide.

Ladies and Gents, I am here to tell you that if you crave piccata use this recipe! I was frothing at work all day today for just a bite of my perfectly cooked chicken oozing with the sensational lemon-caper sauce. Without further ado, here's Ina's recipe with my alternations in orange.

Ingredients

  • 2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 extra-large egg
  • 1/2 tablespoon water
  • 3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
  • Good olive oil
  • 2 tblp capers
  • 3 cloves fresh garlic, cut into 3-4 slivers per clove
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine-used white cooking wine
  • Sliced lemon, for serving
  • Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (I did 350). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat and add garlic. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place chicken and garlic on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, capers, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine (I whisked to combine). Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate (I saved the halves and served them in my pasta. They looked great!) Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

A Whole Lotta Piccata

Thanks for stopping by!

16 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

It doesn't matter whose recipe is....... it's tried, tested and tasty.
And it does look good on the pic.....
You have a new profile pic....:-)) This pic matches the food blog....

BR,
Angie

Lo said...

Ina tends to be spot-on with her traditional recipes -- and it looks like this one is no exception. LOVE piccata, but haven't made it in aeons! Gotta try!

Cookin' Canuck said...

I do love Ina's recipes. This looks delicious! Extra capers for me, please.

Unknown said...

Well check you out! Good to visit you. We will watch for your posts. Best, s

Lynette said...

I really like Ina Garten! And this recipe looks great. I'm going to have to give it a try. Love your blog.

~Lynette

kiss my spatula said...

wow - that looks just delicious! i love ina and i think your version looks amazing!

Shelby said...

Yum! Looks amazing. I have never made this myself - I need to sometime try it! BTW you entered in the correct place for the giveaway (Cooking Light). :o)

Claudia said...

I love Piccata in every shape, way and form. Your looks just wonderful- I'm also a lemon-lover!

Ozge said...

This looks amazing! I think to myself, hm it's been a while I want to check up on what she's up to. And to be greeted with such yumminess oh =)

Rachel J said...

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Angie-Thanks for the pic props :)

Lo-This is my first Ina recipe but if the others are as good as this I will def be making more in the future.

Canuck-Extra capers? You got it! I've been following you and LOVE what you're up to in your kitchen.

S. Stockwell-Right back atcha bud!!

Lynette-please do try it because it was astoundingly good. Thanks for the compliment too :D.

Tricky-thanks so much, give this a whirl and yours will be amazing too.

HoneyB-Thanks for posting! I just love your blog so much so its an honor for me to have you here.

Claudia-no time like the summer to indulge in lemony flavors. :)

Ozge-I vow to greet you with yumminess as often as I possibly can. Thanks love!!

Sutapa said...

Hi,
I think those of us really love to cook know that all recipes are inspired from some one or other.
Your inspired Chicken Piccata look
delicious!
Keep sharing.

Tangled Noodle said...

Okay, so I'm about 3 weeks behind in checking this out. My punishment is now knowing what I've been missing for 20 days! This looks amazingly delicious!

Unknown said...

i'm licking the computer screen. is that wrong?

Unknown said...

i'm licking the computer sreen. is that wrong?

Unknown said...

i'm licking the computer screen. is that wrong? foodie-for-life, beck

Unknown said...

o.k. so it said it didn't post my comment but it did. three times. thanx for making me look crazy technology. beck

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