Chicken Piccata

Cover recipe- Cuisine at Home,   Chicken Piccata

This magazine is one of those sample, complimentary issues of Cuisine at Home that arrives in my mailbox every once in a while.  Cuisine at Home is a good magazine for those who like to see step-by-step photographs of the cooking process and they boast that their magazine is 100% cooking and ad-free.   The theme on the cover is “Easy-to-Prepare Midweek Meals in just minutes.”

The lure for the cover recipe is that it’s described as a restaurant-style meal that a beginner cook can prepare and get professional results.  To make the recipe even easier, much of the preparation can be done hours ahead of serving.  It begins with thin chicken cutlets coated with flour and sauteed in oil.  Simple additions of fresh lemons, white wine and capers complete the dish.  See my notes below for the results of this recipe.

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Chicken Piccata

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 25 min + chill time

Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half and pounded into cutlets
salt and black pepper
all-purpose flour
nonstick spray
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. drained capers
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
fresh lemon slices
chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1.  Season cutlets with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour.  Coat a saute pan with nonstick spray, add oil, and heat over medium-high.
2.  Saute cutlets 2-3 minutes on one side.  Flip cutlets over and saute the other side, covered, 1-2 minutes.  Transfer cutlets to a warmed platter; pour off fat from the pan.
3.  Deglaze pan with wine and add minced garlic.  Cook until garlic is slightly brown and liquid is nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes.
4.  Add broth, lemon juice, and capers.  Return cutlets to pan and cook on each side for 1 minute.  Transfer cutlets to warm plates.
5.  Finish sauce with butter and lemons.  Once butter melts, pour sauce over cutlets.
6.  Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.

Tips:

*My market sells chicken cutlets already sliced thinly (if you're not into cutting and pounding them yourself, you might look for those).
*I don't like to skimp on the oil on this one- you can certainly use less, but I think the chicken turns out to have a nicer crust and a better flavor when sauteed in a good amount of oil.  You can always rid the pan of excess oil after sauteing- before you deglaze and make the sauce.

Nutritional Information per serving:
Serving size: 1/2 of the recipe
Calories per serving: 449
Fat per serving: 28g
Saturated Fat per serving: 10g
Sodium per serving: ,span class="sodium">259g
Fiber per serving: 0g
Protein per serving: 41g
Cholesterol per serving: 129mg
Carbohydrates per serving: 3g

Source:  Cuisine at Home, complimentary issue

The results:

This recipe is so quick to make for a weeknight dinner, and my family loved it.  My son was surprised that he liked the little round, green things (capers). The buttery, lemon sauce is delicious- and not overwhelmingly fattening.

Did this recipe deserve the cover spotlight?

Yes.   It was delicious, easy, and quick to make.