Welcome

Hello and Welcome. My intent is to show how to prepare “elegant” dishes at home and enjoy a little up-scale dining, that doesn’t always require buying the “Top of the line”.

You won’t find any Casseroles, Squash, South West or Mexican here; I tend to stick with New England, European and Chinese food groups as I enjoy them most.

As I have High blood pressure and high Cholesterol, I do not use any salt nor consume any beef or beef products.

My recipes are designed for two adults with an accompanying dish (I hate the word "side" it relegates an otherwise wonderful experience to nothingness). Typically my recipes take 1-1/2 hours or less from start to table (not counting marinating). So with that, let’s get to it.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Traditional Chicken Picatta

I have a break before I start Chemo, so I thought I'd follow through on my former promise of a Picatta recipe. The concept of Picatta is: meat, thinly sliced, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter, and spices, usually parsley -- but Never add white wine as it will destroy the delicate sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (3/4 pound total)
1/2 cup flour
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp butter unsalted (divided)
1/4 cup chicken broth (low sodium)
1-1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp brined capers
2 Tbsp fresh parsley


PREPARATION:
Wash the breasts removing any fat and sinews; also remove the thin membrane covering the breasts.. Cut the chicken breast halves horizontally, butterflying them open. If the breast pieces you are working with are large, you may want to cut them each into two pieces. If the pieces are still thick after butterflying, put them between two pieces of plastic wrap and gently pound them with a meat hammer to barely 1/4-inch thickness.

Mix together the flour, and pepper. Rinse the chicken pieces in water. Dredge them thoroughly in the flour mixture, until well coated.

Wash the parsley, shaking off the water; cut the leaves from the stem and chop. Drain and rinse the capers. Juice the lemon.


COOKING: Sauté
Set a heavy bottomed sauté pan over high heat heat and heat 'till the rim is warm to the touch. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter and Heat. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the chicken pieces, do not crowd the pan, cook for 2-3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the burner and transfer the chicken to a plate. Cover with aluminum foil tent to keep warm while you prepare the sauce.

Add the chicken stock , lemon juice, ½ the parsley and capers to the pan. Return to the burner and bring to boil, use a spatula to scrape up the browned bits. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Reduce the sauce by half, then whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, turn heat to high and quickly reduce pan sauce to a semi heavy consistency. Plate the chicken and spoon the sauce over the breasts. Sprinkle with parsley.




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