Sunday, June 03, 2007

Chicken Piccata

All my good cook friends keep talking about Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa... so I finally bought one of her cookbooks Barefoot Contessa at Home. (Costco price - 18.99) We loved the Chicken Piccata.

Ingredients:
4 split (2 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups seasoned dried bread crumbs
Good olive oil
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine
sliced lemon for serving
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

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

Mix the flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper on a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the eggs and 1 Tbsp 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 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add 2 chicken breasts adn cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan while you cook the rest of the chicken. heat more olive oil in the saute pan and cook the second 2 chicken breasts. Place them on the same sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 min while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. On medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp of the butter and then add the lemon juice, white wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced by halve, about 2 min. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter and swirl to combine.

Discard the lemon halves. Serve on chicken breast on each plate, spoon on the sauce, and serve with sliced lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

ps. I didn't do the lemon slices or parsley for serving... I would if I were entertaining... and I didn't have parchment paper... I need to get some - it seems I've been doing a lot of stuff that asks for it... so I use Pam spray... and a plastic baggy to pound the chicken.

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