Fried Okie's suburban kitchen: Chicken Piccata

Hello friends!! It's been a year since I posted. I have been going through so many changes in life!! Our pastor had a heart attack four months ago, I was asked to step us as worship director at our church, and decided to come out of retirement and open a natural nail care spa service here in town. Balancing these new activities, the house, four kids, the animals, the garden, baking, and this blog is a new challenge. Well since my hubby is Italian, we do a lot of Italian dinners here. I know the blog is mostly southern food, but Italians know how to EAT!!! I decided to incorporate his family recipes too. The owner of the room I rent at the Spa wanted to make chicken piccata, and I told her how, but this is so much easier to follow, So here's to you Andrea!!

You need to thin the chicken breast out, not really to any specific thickness, but more so it is the same thickness all the way across. this way the chicken cooks evenly. It can get messy, so I put the chicken in a ziplock baggie and pound it with a rolling pin.

a bit of flour, Italian seasoning, few tablespoons of corn starch and salt and pepper for dredging if you are going to fry the chicken first, instead of grilling.

Most of the time I just grill the chicken outside on the BBQ until it is ALMOST done through. This time however, I breaded it and fried it so it would have a crispy crust.

Fry the chicken in olive oil until crust is golden brown. If you are grilling the chicken breast, bring it close to finished, but do NOT over cook it. You will finish it through in the sauce at the end.

In a deep wide frying pan, add 1 cup of your favorite white wine, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1 cup chicken broth or stock, 1 Tbs of minced garlic, 1 tsp paprika, lemon zest if you used a fresh lemon, and salt and pepper. You will also need a wine glass, so you can serve yourself while you prepare dinner! Remember, if you wouldn't drink the wine because of its quality, DO NOT COOK WITH IT!!! Put the chicken breast in the sauce to cook through and consider what you would like to add. Sometimes I sautee mushrooms in butter lemon, and garlic to put over the top of the chicken, but this time I went with marinated artichoke hearts.

Then, because its Piccata, you need Capers. it just wouldn't be piccata without them!

About 1/3 cup. A lot of people recommend you rinse the capers. I love the briney flavor, so i drain them off, but do not rinse them. They are such perfect little bursts of tart and rich flavor!

The sauce will be thin, add 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch disolved in 1/4 cup water, whisking into the sauce. Make sure to move around each chicken breast to thicken all the sauce. I normally serve this dinner with garlic parmesean polenta, but I was in a hurry, so I boiled some pasta, and opened a jar of marinara I canned last year.