chicken piccata (lemon chicken)

This is a family favourite that I’ve been making for years.  It’s a classic and I’ve been asked several times to post the recipe and method.  It is essentially easy with relatively few ingredients, however, it does involve some technique.  Once you complete the recipe following all the steps, you will have a good understanding  of it’s simplicity but also of the necessity of the technicalities. It is fairly quick to prepare (and even moreso when you know how to do it), but I find prepping the ingredients ahead allows you to cook it quickly and efficiently.  I use coconut milk but feel free to substitute 35% cream.

Chicken Piccata

serves 4

4 chicken breasts, halved and pounded into 8 chicken cutlets

2-3 Tbsp butter or ghee

½ cup dry white wine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

Zest and juice from one lemon

1-2 Tbsp capers, drained (optional)

½ cup coconut milk

2 tsp cornstarch with ½ cup of water, dissolved

Grated parmesan cheese

 Directions

Prepare chicken  cutlets. Halve chicken breasts horizontally, pound gently under plastic wrap, until they are about 1/2 as thick as when you started. Season cutlets with salt and pepper.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbsp butter or ghee and saute cutlets 2-3 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Cook cutlets in batches, removing them to a plate or bowl as you go along.  Once all the cutlets are browned, leave them in bowl and set aside momentarily.

Add garlic to pan. Saute for a minute or so, then deglaze pan with white wine. This simply means to add wine to pan, and stir, scraping up any brown bits.  Add lemon zest and juice, and chicken broth.  Return chicken to pan. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes or so.  Add 1-2 tbsp capers, depending on your taste, bearing in mind that they are salty (optional).  (If not using, don’t forget to add salt). Add coconut milk, stir. If liquid needs thickening, mix up cornstarch and water, add to pan, stir and let simmer a few minutes,  until thickened.

Serve chicken with rice or fettuccine noodles, green beans, asparagus or a salad. Top chicken with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Double this recipe if you are serving a crowd – just be careful about the lemon juice, I would probably only multiply the juice by 1.5.  This recipe would also work well with veal scaloppini or turkey cutlets.

carefully slice chicken breast horizontally with a sharp knife.

breast sliced in two.

cover in plastic wrap and pound gently until thin. (don’t go crazy)

Zest and juice lemon (remove zest first) and mince garlic

prepare you ingredients, lemon, garlic, chicken broth

saute chicken cutlets until browned. Remove to separate bowl.

browned chicken cutlets ‘resting’ in bowl while you make your sauce

saute garlic over medium heat for a minute, then deglaze pan with white wine

add chicken broth and coconut milk

return chicken to pan, add water/cornstarch mixture to thicken and continue to cook

Top with a sprinkle of grated fresh parmesan and enjoy. Serve with noodles or rice.