Culinary Disasters

The sauce for this chicken is based on chicken piccata.  Chicken piccata is chicken breast that is flattened and then dredged in flour.  The chicken is then browned and finished with a simple pan sauce made from stock, lemon juice, and capers. 

I had a whole chicken defrosted in my fridge and what I had planned to do was not going to work since I had worked all day and had no desire to make anything complicated.  Staring in the fridge I see a massive jar of capers, couple lemons, stock, and some leftover wine.  After a couple quick knife strokes the chicken was broke down into 6 pieces and my version of chicken piccata was on its way.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 whole chicken split into 6-8 pieces (I like to keep the thigh and leg together)
• 1 shallot finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic finely diced
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1/2 cup of stock
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 3 TB of capers
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 2 TB of butter
• 2 TB of a high temperature oil (I used extra light olive oil)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Dredge (cover) the chicken pieces in all-purpose flour and shake off the excess.

Over medium heat in a large oven safe pan with a lid melt the 2 TB of butter along with the 2 TB of oil.  Add in the chicken in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan and brown all over (about 5 minutes a side).

After the chicken is browned remove from the pan and set aside.  Add the shallot and garlic to the pan and stir quickly for a minute.

Add in the 1/2 cup of wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to free any stuck bits up.

Add in the stock, lemon juice, and capers.  Bring this mixture to a boil and then add the chicken back in.  Cover and place in the oven till the chicken is cooked through (about 30 minutes).

Serve the chicken with the sauce drizzled over top.  I also like to chop up some parsley and grate some parmigiano-reggiano over the top of the plate.

Tags: chicken, All //