Chicken Piccata

I've been taking care of my dad during the day while my mom is at work.  It's been fun - I haven't had a lot of quality time with my dad lately so it's nice.  And since my attempt at making something for the first time since surgery went over so well, I made dinner for my parents and myself as well.  Apparently, my mom had decided what we were having and had left the recipe out for me on the kitchen counter.  Chicken Piccata.  Right on! Easy and delicious - and I came armed with my last box of Beer Bread Mix from Tastefully Simple. 

I get going on the bread first, it honestly doesn't take much effort.  And this was the last time I plan on making bread from a mix since I am now ready to take on the bread making world.  I pour a can of beer into the bowl and then add the mix....its really that simple.

this is as hard as it gets

All ready and I put the bread into the oven to bake.  I get going on the chicken.  Now, you have to pound it out to make it thin, and I always find this part fun and very theraputic.  So there I am in my parents kitchen, pounding away at chicken and singing a song.  I must of pounded the crap out of the chicken because by the time I was done, my forearm was killing me. 

Next I set up my station for wet and dry ingredients.  It's best to use one had for dry and one hand for wet, that way you wont get a clumpy mess on your hands while dipping and breading.

assembly line

Once I had all the chicken dipped and breaded, I got the water going for the pasta and went to work on frying up the chicken.  Now, let me just say that yes, I did indeed end up using a whole stick of butter to cook the chicken in.  Gross? Yes.  Tasty? Absolutely! You can always switch out the butter for whatever you want to cook the chicken in.  I cook the chicken in batches and then put the finished ones in the oven to keep warm.  Once all the chicken was cooked, I get to work on the sauce.  So simple and easy.  My mom came home and we had a chat about what to do with the sauce and we decided to throw the pasta in the pan and coat it with the sauce.  So good.

Everything was ready and it was time to eat.  I must say, it was delicious.  And it made a ton so we had left overs for days.  But if you are looking for something easy and quick, I highly suggest this.



Delicious :)



  Chicken Piccata

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

- mix together and put on large plate or rimmed pan

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

- beat in rimmed bowl or plate

butter

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 tbsp lemon juice

1-2 pounds of chicken

Pasta or rice as side

1. Pound chicken thin with kitchen mallet.  Dip chicken in egg mixture and then into bread crumb mixture. 
2. Heat up large skillet pan with 4 tbsp butter.  Brown chicken on each side.  Remove from pan when done and set aside.  Add butter as needed with each batch of chicken.
3. Sauce: to drippings in pan, add stock, wine and lemon juice.  Heat until boiling.  Simmer, covered for 5 minutes.  Spoon over chicken or add to pasta.