“Make it Snappy” is presented by Goldfish Swim School of Chapel Hill. With recipes that only take 45 minutes or less to prepare, Christy helps you stay afloat at dinner time!
Happy New Year, friends! Whether you’ve resolved to cook more at home this year, or you’re honing the chef skills you developed during quarantine, welcome back to our little corner of the internet where we’re working together to serve great meals that are homecooked in under 45 minutes!
Here at Make It Snappy, I often encourage you to embrace a “shortcut” from the grocery store, to make your cooking as efficient as possible and free up some precious time. This month’s recipe, while it is a “fancy” dish, doesn’t even need a shortcut, it’s just that easy!
Piccata dishes, a staple on high end, Italian menus, are really a simple concept, generally a chicken or veal cutlet browned and served in a lemon butter sauce with capers and herbs. In my opinion, the key to success with this dish, as it is when preparing any chicken breast, is to pound the chicken to an even thickness. This ensures even cooking and prevents the thinner ends from drying out and the fatter ends from staying pink inside.
Do not be intimidated by this classic entree! At its heart, piccata is a very simple, one-pan dish that comes together quickly. Serve over pasta or with fresh veggies and roasted potatoes.
CHICKEN PICCATA
By: Christy Bray Graves
SERVES: 6
INGREDIENTS
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ – ½ cup all-purpose flour, enough for dredging
- Salt and pepper
- Dried oregano
- 5 TBSP butter, divided*
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- ¼ cup chicken stock**
- ¼ cup white wine** (dry, such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio)
- 2 TBSP capers
- 1 fresh lemon, cut in half
- Fresh, flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise. Wrap each breast half in plastic wrap and use a mallet to pound the chicken until the entire breast is an even thickness, approximately ¼-½ inch.
- Sprinkle each chicken breast half with salt, pepper and dried oregano. Dredge the chicken breast halves in ¼ cup of flour, adding more flour to the dredging dish as needed. Set the chicken aside.
- In a large non-stick skillet, melt 3 TBSP of the butter over low to medium-low heat. Then stir in the olive oil and bring the mixture up to medium-high heat.
- Working in batches, add the chicken to the pan, making sure not to crowd it. Brown the chicken breast halves in the butter sauce, 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove the browned chicken to a platter.
- To the same pan over medium-high heat, add the chicken stock and wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze and incorporate brown bits into the pan sauce.
- To the pan, stir in the capers and the juice from one half of the lemon. Allow the sauce to simmer on the pan for 2-3 minutes to thicken, stirring constantly.
- Stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the pan sauce to combine. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning as needed.
- If the chicken needs more time to cook, you can add the breasts back to the pan, directly into the sauce, or you can pour the sauce over the platter of browned chicken breasts.
- Slice the remaining lemon half into rounds. Garnish the platter with lemon rounds and chopped fresh parsley and serve.
NOTES
*Salted or unsalted butter is fine, whichever you have on hand. Be sure to season to taste if additional salt is needed.
**You may omit chicken stock or wine if you prefer, instead use a full ½ cup of one or the other.
As a wife and mom of three young boys, I often consider myself a master “chaos coordinator.” Between running our family business, Chapel Hill Toffee, managing our household and balancing busy schedules, I love to create quick and simple recipes that I know my family will enjoy – and my kids will actually eat!
My recipes are more of a guide than a perfect plan. I will always encourage you to use what you have on hand and make substitutions to suit your tastes. I invite you to share your own ideas, questions and final products with us on Facebook and on Instagram by tagging @christybgraves and @wchlchapelboro.
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