Simple Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata is one of those really fast, one-pot dishes every home cook should have in their arsenal.  The thin chicken breasts cook in minutes, and the butter, lemon, caper sauce is packed full of flavor.  I love that I can walk in the door and have a complete meal of chicken piccata, rice, and steamed vegetables in less than 30 minutes.   Let me show you how easy it is to make.

Cut a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in half horizontally and use a meat pounder to pound the thick side of the breast so the entire piece of chicken is the same thickness (about 1/4-inch).  I like to cover the chicken with plastic wrap when doing this so little bits of chicken don't fly all over the kitchen.

Coat the chicken on both sides with a light dusting of flour.  

I used Wondra Flour because it coats the chicken so lightly and evenly, but you can use plain flour instead.

Then I used a citrus squeezer to get all the juice out of one lemon.  By the way, room temperature or warm lemons give up more juice than cold lemons.  Zap your lemon in the microwave for about 10 seconds if needed.

For garnish, I used a channel knife to cut this design into another lemon.  This step is completely unnecessary, but it makes the lemon slices look so pretty.

Then I sliced it thin with a mandoline slicer.  If you don't have a mandoline, slice the lemon thin by hand.

They'll make a nice garnish.  You can easily remove all the seeds when the slices are thin like this.    

Okay, time to cook the chicken.  Saute the chicken in a little butter and olive oil until slightly brown on both sides.  Don't crowd the pan.

Side one is done and it's time to flip.  This will only take 2 or 3 minutes per side, depending on how thin your chicken is.

Remove your beautifully browned chicken to a plate.  We'll put it back in the pan after we make the pan sauce.

Now we make the pan sauce.  Keep the butter and oil in there... they'll add a lot of flavor to the sauce.  And see all those brown bits in the pan?  They're going to add even more flavor.  We're going to dissolve them in a mixture of chicken stock and white wine.  If you don't like to cook with wine, you can totally use just chicken stock.   

I always have homemade chicken stock in the freezer.  

Today I used my homemade chicken stock to make the piccata.  I used my stock to cook the rice I served as well.  It comes in handy all the time.  I use it for soups, cooking beans and grains, steaming vegetables.... wonderful, wonderful stuff.  Check out my tutorial to see how easy it is to make your own awesome chicken stock for just pennies here. 

Okay, back to tonight's dinner.  Once the chicken stock and white wine have dissolved all those tasty brown bits in the pan, remove any lumpy blobs of solidified protein that might remain.  A fine mesh skimmer is the perfect tool for the job.  You really don't have to do this, but it'll make for a more attractive pan sauce later. 

Now we're going to add capers.  They're very pungent and a little go a long way.  I only used about a teaspoon, DRAINED, for the amount of chicken I cooked here.  

Time to add the freshly squeezed lemon juice too.

Whisk everything together well and let the sauce reduce by at least half, stirring occasionally. DO NOT add any salt and pepper.  I know, I usually tell you to season with S & P as you go, but not this time.  Trust me.  Just wait until the sauce reduces to the consistency you like.  You can add a teeny tiny amount of the Wondra Flour if you want to thicken the sauce a little, but I don't usually find it necessary.  If you do add flour, add just a small amount, whisk it in well and allow the mixture to boil for at least a minute to cook out the raw flour flavor.

Once the sauce is finished reducing, taste and add salt and pepper if needed.  Then whisk in a tablespoon of butter.  Sorry I didn't get a photo of that, but trust me, it adds a velvety mouth-feel and lovely shine to the sauce. 

Return the chicken to the pan and allow it to gently reheat for a minute or two by basting with that gorgeous pan sauce. 

Last we'll pretty things up by adding the sliced lemons and some chopped fresh parsley.  Serve immediately.  The extra pan sauce is great served over rice or pasta. 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• channel knife https://amzn.to/3IJwh8k

• citrus juicer https://amzn.to/35zpr76

• meat mallet https://amzn.to/3u6H5JC

• fine mesh skimmer https://amzn.to/3IO03sI

• mandolin slicer https://amzn.to/3uacXNi

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Simple Chicken Piccata

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally and pounded to about 1/4-inch thickness

• 1/4 cup flour for dredging the chicken

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1 cup white wine (or substitute more chicken stock)

• juice of 1 lemon

• 1 teaspoon capers, drained

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 sliced lemon

• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions

1. Dredge the chicken in flour; set aside.

2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a very large skillet.

3. Saute the chicken in the butter and oil until browned on both sides; remove from pan.

4. Add chicken stock and white wine to the butter and oil that remains in the pan; stirring to dissolve all the browned bits. Skim away any solids that don't dissolve if desired.

5. Add the lemon juice and capers; reduce by half, stirring occasionally.

6. Season reduced pan sauce if needed and whisk in remaining tablespoon of butter.

7. Return chicken to skillet and baste with pan sauce to gently reheat chicken.

8. Garnish with sliced lemons and chopped fresh parsley.

Notes

• The recipe makes a lot of pan sauce which is wonderful served over rice or sopped up with crusty bread. 

• Remove lemon slices before storing leftovers (they will make the leftovers taste bitter).

Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

Friends of ours recently went to South Carolina and returned with a huge gift basket of delicious peaches. They were so ripe and juicy and fragrant, I couldn't wait to start cooking with them.  The first thing that came to mind was this peach cobbler. I had made it a few years ago when my father was visiting.  He loved it so much that he kept going back into the kitchen for a little more, and a little more, and a little more.  So last year when I went to visit him, he asked me to make it again. What can I say, it's good stuff.  And just in case you’re wondering, yes - you can use frozen peaches in a pinch.

To make the best peach cobbler, you need to start with the best peaches you can get your hands on.  Peel them any way you like.  I like to use a serrated vegetable peeler, but if you like to use the boiling water method, feel free. 

When all the skins are off your peaches, remove the pits and slice the peaches into 1/4-inch slices. 

Butter a baking dish well.

Add the sliced peaches and sprinkle with sugar.

Next we'll add some very finely grated lemon zest.  The easiest way to grate lemon zest is to use a microplane.  It does a wonderful job grating all kinds of things - chocolate, nutmeg, garlic, cheese... wonderful, wonderful tool.  

We'll also need some of the juice from the lemon.  For that, I use a citrus squeezer.  Did you know there's a right way and a wrong way to use a citrus squeezer?  

This is the wrong way. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people using it this way, even chefs on TV.

This is the right way. Try both ways and you'll see how much more juice you get this way.

Now that we have that cleared up, time to squeeze some fresh lemon juice to add to the peaches.

There's a little pure almond extract too.... it really bumps up the flavor of the peaches.

Stir, stir, stir.  I love when I can stir right in the baking dish.  One less dirty dish to clean. 

Spread the peaches out evenly and bake for 20 minutes.

While the peaches are in the oven, make the topping.  Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and a touch of sugar.

Then add unsalted butter.

Use a pastry blender to incorporate the butter until it's the size of peas. 

Done.

Now we add a beaten egg and some heavy cream.  Mix with a fork until it forms a shaggy mass. 

Shaggy mass achieved.

By now the peaches have baked for 20 minutes so take them out of the oven.  See all those yummy juices they started to release.  Yum!

Spread the shaggy topping evenly over the partially cooked peaches.

Stir together the last of the sugar with some ground cinnamon.

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the top and pop the baking dish back into the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the topping turns a lovely shade of golden brown. 

Mmmmmm.  I wish you could smell it!   Serve it warm with ice cream or cold with fresh homemade whipped cream.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 9x13 casserole dish (glass, ceramic, or stoneware) https://amzn.to/35ytIrs

• ramekins https://amzn.to/3Gc2WBV

• pure almond extract https://amzn.to/35zU4JE

• microplane grater https://amzn.to/32GV9Oz

• serrated peeler https://amzn.to/3u61FK9

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Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Filling:

• 6 cups sliced ripe peaches (peeled and pits removed)

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar (or more if your peaches aren't very sweet)

• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Cobbler:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Sugar Topping:

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

3. Stir together sliced peaches, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pure almond extract in baking dish; bake for 20 minutes while you prepare the topping.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

5. Use a pastry blender to "cut in" the butter until the butter pieces are the size of peas.

6. Use a fork to mix in the beaten egg and heavy cream until all the dry ingredients form a shaggy mass with no dry clumps of flour visible.

7. When peaches have baked for 20 minutes, remove from oven and spread shaggy flour mixture all over.

8. Combine the last 2 tablespoons of sugar with the ground cinnamon and sprinkle all over the cobbler topping.

9. Return to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes more, or until the topping is golden brown.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.