Chicken Piccata

Hello my dear friends. It's been a long time since I wrote up a recipe. My life fell apart into forty million sharp and jagged pieces and I lost sight of my joy. I'm that meme that says "In the process of getting my groove back. Please standby." Nobody expects to be washed ashore in a wave of shit at the age of 55 and have to start all over again. You don't see that coming. But nor can you have people at your funeral saying "Yeah, but what about her self pity years?" So it's time to Sally Forth and at least I've started to shave my legs on a regular basis again!

So I hadn't cooked a thing in months when my beautiful sister-in-law asked if The LadyGirls would cater my brother's 50th birthday party. I was so honoured and excited to be asked, and we jumped at the chance! I've posted our menu for the party here. We really enjoyed every bit of the planning and the shopping, but oh my - I can't even describe how good it felt to be standing at a stove again! Oh and by the way, in my excitement to see that my sexy new basement apartment had a marble bathroom, I failed to notice that it had no stove. So I think catering will be the way to go from now on so I can use other people's stoves as my test kitchen. Although it does have a hot plate and I could always write a series on camp cooking such as how to heat up a can of beans and what have you.

But the hit of the buffet was the Chicken Piccata by far. Now you should note that I've also made this recipe with veal and it's every bit as delicious. This is a fast and easy way to feed a crowd.

You'll need:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I used 8 breasts sliced vertically into 4 slices per breast and pounded out flat. This made 32 pieces, but 2 breasts, sliced and pounded will yield 8 pieces to feed 4 people
salt, pepper and flour to dredge
olive oil to fry the meat
And for the sauce:
1 sliced lemon
1 cup or more of chicken broth depending how many you serve
a splash of white wine if you life, but it's not necessary
2 tablespoons or more of capers
1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley

Slice each breast into 4 thin slices vertically and pound them flat between 2 pieces of plastic wrap using a meat tenderizer, or a rolling pin. Don't touch any surfaces in the kitchen until you're finished with this and then thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water and sanitize all your surfaces that came in contact with the chicken. Heat about 1 inch of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour shaking off any excess. Using tongs, fry each piece in the oil until golden and flip and do the other side. Remove them to paper towel to drain off the excess oil. Drain any oil left in the skillet and deglaze with a splash of white wine if you like. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes to cook off the alcohol and add the chicken broth and lemon. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes until it thickens and add the capers. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over it. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. So fast and easy and amazing! You'll make this one often. And I do recommend you try it with veal sometime too. For sides, I used green beans and potatoes, but use whatever you like. Pasta goes perfect with it and a nice arugula salad. Enjoy friends! It's so good to be back!