Chicken Piccata

When taking some chicken breasts out of the freezer for dinner, I mentioned that I hadn’t yet decided how to prepare them, so Wayne offered some suggestions – Chicken Parmesan or Chicken Piccata. We have Chicken Parmesan fairly regularly, and I’m not really in the mood for it again. However, there is an open jar of capers in the fridge, and I can’t remember the last time we had Chicken Piccata, so it won the coin toss.

Maybe the last time we tried it was in a restaurant. I found a couple of copycat recipes online. The Cheesecake Factory version adds sliced mushrooms (baby portabellas) and cream to the classic sauce of butter, olive oil, lemon juice, and capers. The Olive Garden version has sun-dried tomatoes instead of mushrooms. Both of them suggest garnishing with fresh parsley.

We’re trying to avoid going out (coronovirus quarantine guidelines in place) and we’re out of cream and mushrooms. However, we have the ingredients to make a classic version, so that’s what we’ll do!

Take thin chicken cutlets and pound to 1/4″ thick. Dredge in flour seasoned with salt and pepper (and add some Parmesan cheese to the flour if desired as well). Brown on both sides in a skillet with some olive oil, then add some chicken stock or white wine and lemon juice (about 1/2 cup stock/wine with 2 tablespoons lemon juice for 2-3 servings). Cook until reduced a bit, then stir in some capers and butter (about 1-2 tablespoons each). Serve warm on a bed of angel hair pasta and garnish with parsley. Perfectly delicious!

The sauce went well with lamb also.