Chicken Piccata

This recipe comes from another of my ridiculous library book stack. I’d been going through the cookbooks and marking pages with sticky notes and I actually bypassed this one. Brian’s always telling me that he doesn’t like lemon, so a chicken flavored with lemon would be something he’d NEVER want to try. Just like he hates baked eggs. No frittatas or Quiche for us!

Then a few days later I was watching clips of Food Network shows online (oh, if I only had cable and watch the whole thing!) and a clip of Ina making this recipe came on. Brian walked by and said “Wow, what is THAT?!” I slyly said “Chicken piccata” and left it at that. He sat for a moment and said “you should try it”. OK! Bwah ha ha.

I did end up telling him ahead of time that there was lemon in this chicken, and he agreed to at least try it. After his first tentative bite, he loved it. In fact, he ended up taking the leftovers cold the next day for lunch (and said it was even better than the night before. We’re such leftovers people). So, the lemon recipe was a success. Now if I could only get the man to try a frittata.

Chicken Piccataprint this recipe

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
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
Sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 400°.

Pound the chicken breasts to about ¼ inch thickness. Coat lightly with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, ½ t. salt and ¼ t. of pepper.

In another small bowl beat the egg with ½ T. of water.

Pour the breadcrumbs into a 3rd small bowl.

Dip the chicken into the flour and coat, dip into the egg mixture, then coat with the breadcrumbs.

Heat the 1 T. olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the chicken until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan in the oven for about 10 minutes to continue to warm/cook while preparing the sauce.

Wipe the pan clean, then melt the butter. Add in the wine, lemon juice, lemon halves, ½ t. of salt and ¼ t. of pepper. Bring this to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about 2 minutes, until the sauce is thick and reduced to about half. Add in the last 2 T. of butter and mix until it’s melted and blended in. Discard the lemon halves.

Remove the chicken from the oven pans, drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle with the parsley and serve. Garnish with additional lemon slices if desired.

Source: Barefoot Contessa at Home, by Ina Garten