Barefoot Bloggers: Chicken Picatta

Busy week nights have left very little time for cooking anything of interest lately which is why I am ever so glad that it is once again Barefoot Thursday(and just to illustrate my disorganization of late this is posted a day late). Barefoot Thursday, for those of you who don’t know, occurs two Thursdays a month and is a day when various food bloggers prepare a recipe from one of the Barefoot Contessa’s (a.k.a. Ina Garten) cookbooks.

This week’s recipe is the perfect quick weeknight supper: Chicken Piccata selected by Lindsay of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings.

I actually make this recipe all the time with just one slight change...to cut a bit of the tang of the lemon I add a tablespoon of heavy cream. I served it with steamed brown rice and a salad-just perfect. The recipe I had been using in the past did not call for finishing in the oven so I tried that variation and I must say, I thought that the chicken came out a bit more juicy this way. My cutlets were thin (I bought the thin sliced ones so I didn't have to pound) so I cut the oven time to 5 minutes.

Barefoot Contessa’s Chicken Piccata · 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
· kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
· 1 cup flour
· 2 extra large eggs
· 1 1/2 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
· olive oil
· 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
· 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, reserve the lemon halves
· 1/2 cup dry white wine
· fresh parsley, chopped
Preheat oven to 275 and line sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper and pound to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
Mix the flour, 1 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoons pepper in shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 Tbls. water. Place the breadcrumbs on a third plate.
Dip each breast first in the flour, shake off the excess and then dip in egg and then bread crumb mixture.

Heat 2 Tbls. olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 chicken breasts and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. Place them on lined pan and place in oven while you cook the rest of the chicken. Heat more olive oil in saute pan and cook the second 2 chicken breasts. Place them on the same lined pan and place in oven for 5-10 minutes while you make the sauce.
For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. On medium heat, melt 1 Tbls. of the butter and then add the lemon juice, white wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoons pepper.

Boil sauce over high heat until reduced by half which will be about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining 2 Tbls. butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves. Serve one chicken breast on each plate and spoon on the sauce with a sprinkling of fresh parsley.