Easy Chicken Piccata

Piccata or Picatta dishes are of Italian origin. In Italy, the usually involve veal or seafood. In the U.S., chicken is popular.

This easy and delicious recipe is a Giada de Laurentiis recipe that I found on foodnetwork.com. The original recipe serves four. I made some adjustments to make two servings rather than four. Below is my adjusted version.

Ingredients

- Two thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts. (You can butterfly slice one thick breast if you don't have two thin ones.)
- sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour for dredging. I put two tablespoons on a plate.
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (I used broth.)
- 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
- 1/3 cup parsley, chopped

Directions

Combine the lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers in a small bowl.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 of the 3 tablespoons butter with the olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip the chicken and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the mixture of lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers to the pan. If there are any brown bits on the bottom of the pan, scrape them and stir them into the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan. Put the remaining tablespoon of butter into the pan and whisk it into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken, and garnish with parsley.