Haystacks & Champagne: Parmesan Chicken Picatta

I LOVE chicken picatta! And I think you will too. I had never made it before, but since I wanted to make something special now that my husband was coming home after a few weeks away in training, I decided to play around with my friend Nancy's chicken picatta recipe and Rachel Ray's recipe and this is what I came up with below. I didn't have fresh parsley (which I think is truly the traditional way to make it--but will try that next time), so I used dried parsley in the breading and it was very good). Also, Rachel Ray's recipe uses a lot more Parmesan cheese--but I chose to cut it down significantly and still feel you could taste the cheese in the final outcome. We really enjoyed this dinner and will definitely be making it again sometime soon.

Our dinner comprised of this chicken, cumin & chili roasted cauliflower (recipe to follow), lima beans, and a Harvest Grains blend by Trader Joe's (Israeli couscous blend--see below--very delicious!). You would probably do well to serve it with a salad and potatoes also. This is an awesome weeknight dinner that is still special enough to serve to company. YUM!

(photo courtesy of 'food for conversation')

PARMESAN CHICKEN PICATTA

Serves 4

3/4 - 1 cup panko bread crumbs (you may not need the whole cup)
2-3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese (freshly grated if you can get it)
1 tsp. dried parsley
4 chicken cutlets (mine were THIN cut and just under 1 pound total weight for all 4)
Salt & pepper
3/4 - 1 cup all purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. oil (I used a combination of olive oil and safflower oil)
1/3 cup dry white wine (this means NOT a sweet white wine like Riesling)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp. capers, drained
1 or 2 Tbsp. butter
1 lemon, sliced
Fresh parsley (can omit the dried if you have fresh)

In a small-medium sized container, mix the Panko bread crumbs with the dried parsley and Parmesan cheese. Set aside. Put your flour in another small-medium sized container. And lastly, in another container or bowl (about same size as the other two), whisk your egg.

Rinse cutlets (no need to pat dry).

Your first step will be to dredge cutlets through the flour. The second step will be to dip the cutlets in the egg and then press them into the Panko breadcrumb mixture. Set them aside.

Heat oil in a large saute pan and saute the cutlets for about 3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and cooked through (turn them over gently so as to not remove the breading). The thicker the cutlets, the more time they will need to cook--probably another 3-4 minutes (or more). Keep your eye on them and take them out when they get golden brown and are thoroughly cooked.

Set the cooked chicken breasts aside. At this point, I removed any burned bits inside the pan with a paper towel--but if you are comfortable doing so, leave them in.

Deglaze pan by pouring in the wine and garlic. My garlic was finely minced and cooked super fast, but it might take a minute or two until most of the liquid is evaporated and the garlic has cooked through.

Pour in the chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, butter, and lemon slices. Stir. When the butter has melted, return the cutlets to the pan and let them cook for another minute or two (careful when flipping them to leave the breading on).

Serve a cutlet on each plate. Evenly distribute any leftover sauce from the pan over each cutlet before serving. Serve with freshly chopped parsley on top of chicken (if you have it).

Serve warm.