Chicken Piccata

I was in the mood for Italian food tonight so I decided to make one of my wife's favorites... Chicken Piccata.   I have made this particular recipe once before and it turned out well, but I find this dish challenging.   I did better this time around and had all my ingredients prepped ahead of time.   The sauce is really the tricky part and this part of the process moves quickly so, I really need to have ingredients pre-measured and laid out.   Also, the way the recipe is worded makes the process seem more complicated.

Here is the Cooking Light Chicken Piccata recipe I use from myrecipes.com:

1. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Place 1 teaspoon flour in a small bowl, and place remaining flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour in shallow dish; shake off excess.

My version:

1a. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet.    Sprinkle both sides of the chicken evenly with salt and pepper.

1b.  Place 1/2 cup of flour in a shallow bowl.   Dredge chicken in flour in shallow dish; shake off excess.

Next step from Cooking Light:

2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

This is fine.  I would keep the text the same in my version except maybe say cooking time was closer to 6 minutes per side.

Third step from Cooking Light (this is the part that moves kinda fast for me):

3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots to pan; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add wine; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until liquid almost evaporates, stirring occasionally. Add 1/4 cup broth to reserved 1 teaspoon flour; stir until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup broth to pan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Stir in flour mixture; cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, juice, and capers. Place 1 chicken breast half on each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 2 tablespoons sauce. Sprinkle each serving with about 2 teaspoons parsley.

ok... there is a lot going on in this third step!   I had to read this like 20 times to get this straight.   And if you get confused while you are cooking, the sauce is not going to turn out well as your scallions are going to burn or you will end up burning off all the liquid...

Here is my version:

3a.  Add 1/4 cup broth to 1 teaspoon flour and stir until smooth.  Set aside.

3b.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan, swirl to coat.    Add 1/4 cup shallots to pan; saute 1 minute, stirring frequently. 

3c.  Add 4 minced garlic cloves; saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3d.  Add 1/2 cup dry white wine; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

3e.  Add 1/2 cup broth to pan; bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half (about 5 minutes)

3f.  Stir in broth and flour mixture from 3; cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring frequently.

3g.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter,  2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1/2 tablespoons of capers.

3f.  Place 1 chicken breast half on each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 2 tablespoons sauce. Sprinkle each serving with about 2 teaspoons parsley.

 I served the chicken on a bed of angel hair pasta which had been coated with melted Parmesan cheese.   This is the first time I served Chicken Piccata on pasta and I liked the way it turned out and the sauce mixed with the pasta.

I also made Warm Bruschetta to go along with the meal.   This is the first time I have made Bruschetta and it was delcious.   This is another Cooking Light recipe from myrecipes.com.

So, overall it was a delicious meal.    I left for the house to go to Whole Foods at about 4:45pm and had dinner on the table at about 7:00pm. 

Here is the shopping list:

Organic Free Range Chicken Broth...  $2.19
Organic Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast  (2 lbs @ $9.99/lb)... $19.98
Sourdough Baguette... $0.99
Capers... $0.79
Organic Shallots (0.12 lb @ $3.99 / lb)... $0.47
Aged Parmesan (0.5 oz @ $22/lb)... $0.88
Cherry Tomatoes... $4.00
Fresh Organic Basil... $4.00  (Sold in a package which includes much more basil than I need!)
Angel Hair Pasta... $2.99

Total:  $36.29 or $9.07 per serving

Kind of an expensive dinner, but the Bruschetta is contributing $2 per serving to the total.  If I had served a veggie like zucchini or spinach the price would probably be around $8 per serving.

Even at this cost, though, I think its worth it because 1) I like my chicken picatta about as much as at a decent restaurant which would cost me more 2x this amount and 2) lots of bonus points for me cause this is one of my wife's favorite dishes and 3) makes for an enjoyable @ home family dinner which, although it takes more of my time, is actually more convenient than going out to a restaurant.