Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

On a trip to Croatia, I noticed a leafy plant with flower buds growing out of the stone walls. Turns out these are capers. They grew everywhere! Locals pick the buds, brine them and use them in a lot of dishes. I developed an affinity for capers and decided to make chicken piccata. I bought a jar of capers and found an easy recipe. This trifecta of briny capers, white wine, and lemon in a buttery sauce atop chicken cutlets was perfect! Hint for preparation- assemble all ingredients first. Nice to serve on a bed of fresh spinach sautéed in garlic and olive oil and spaghetti.

4 or 5 thin sliced chicken cutlets

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour 

3 T olive oil

3 T capers (drained)

4 cloves garlic, minced or grated

1/4 cup white wine

3 T fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 T butter

salt and pepper

Wondra or flour for thickening the sauce

1. Generously season both sides of chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and a little bit of garlic powder.

2. In a bowl or shallow baking pan,  mix the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder together. Dredge each of the cutlets in this mixture, and shake off any additional coating. Transfer to a plate.

3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high and then add the chicken. Cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with a towel or foil to keep warm.

4. Add a little additional olive oil to pan if needed and add capers and garlic, stirring for about 20 seconds. Make sure heat isn't too high to burn the garlic. Add wine and scrape up any  bits in the pan. Add lemon juice and chicken broth an bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 2 minutes. Add butter and stir till melted.

5. Sprinkle with Wondra or a bit of flour to thicken the sauce slightly. Once it's the consistency of a light sauce, turn off the heat, add the cutlets and stir them around in the pan until covered with sauce.

6. Serve as is, spooning extra sauce over the cutlets or serve atop a bed of spinach, spinach and pasta, or just pasta.