Chicken Piccata

My mom loves Chicken Piccata; so for dinner one night, I decided to surprise her with one of her favorite dishes.  Of course, I looked to Food Network for inspiration and stumbled on Giada's recipe for Chicken Piccata.  The great thing about this recipe was that the episode video was included on the website; so I was able to read Giada's recipe as well as watch her lead by example.  I'm a visual learner, and I think the dish was successful because the video.  I was too lazy to butterfly my chicken; so I just bought Perdue's boneless and thin chicken breast.  It took a little longer for my chicken to cook than I thought it would; so the flour fell apart a little before plating.  Nonetheless, dinner was another successful Giada creation!  I chose to pair our chicken with linguine, and it was delicious.

Chicken Piccata

Giada's recipe can be found HERE (courtesy of Food Network).

Ingredients

• 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied
• about 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons EVOO
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, washed and chopped (8 teaspoons of Parsley flakes may be used as a substitute)
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Wash the chicken and cut any excess fat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off excess.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil.  When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes.  Remove and transfer to plate.  Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  When they begin to sizzle, repeat the same cooking steps for the other two pieces of chicken.  Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.
3. In the pan, add the lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers.  Return pan to the stove and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Return all chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.  Next, add chicken to a serving platter.  Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk.  Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley and lemon slices.