An Instant Classic – Chicken Piccata

Every once in a while, a recipe jumps out from nowhere and sticks; it becomes an instant classic in my repertoire, one I make over and over. That is the case with Chicken Piccata.

Many years ago, my wife and I were at a friend’s house taking care of something – watering the plants, walking and feeding the dog, I don’t recall. I turned on the television while my wife completed the chore and some chef on some cooking show was demonstrating how to make Chicken Piccata. When we were done, we left, stopped at the supermarket for ingredients, went home, and cooked. I’ve been making Chicken Piccata ever since.

The dish is simple; pan-seared chicken breast, with sautéed onions and mushrooms, in a white wine-caper-lemon sauce. It’s the perfect balance of savory from the mushrooms and bright from the wine and lemon juice. And it cooks in a flash, great for a weeknight dinner.

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata is one of those dishes that doesn’t require measuring ingredients. In fact, when I first wrote the recipe on a 3 x 5 card after seeing it demonstrated many years ago, I jotted down only a list of ingredients with no measurements at all. Thus, it is slightly different each time; sometimes it is more lemony, while other times the white wine or capers dominate the flavor. If you are not a fan of mushrooms, use fewer, or maybe even leave them out altogether. The version pictured here has way more mushrooms than I usually use, and it was delicious.

I wish I could credit the chef and cooking show from which I got the recipe, but I simply do not remember who it was.

½ hour, serves four

½ cup flour

4 thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets, pounded to about ¼ inch thickness

4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 Tbsp. butter

1 onion, finely diced

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

½ cup dry white wine

1½ Tbsp. capers, drained

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp. water to thicken the sauce, if necessary

1. Put the flour on a plate. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, shaking off the excess. Place them on another plate.
2. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter to a heavy skillet and heat on high until a tiny bit of flour sizzles when dropped in the pan. Place one or two chicken breasts in the pan and cook until the bottom is lightly brown, about three to four minutes. (Do not crowd the chicken breasts – they will steam rather than sear – so cook in stages if necessary, only one or two at a time.) Flip the chicken breasts and cook the other side until done, about three more minutes. Remove to a clean plate and place in a warm oven.
3. Add the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the onions, stir, and sauté for about two minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms, stir, and cook until mushrooms are tender and cooked through, about five minutes.
5. Add the white wine, capers, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
6. Stir in the lemon juice.
7. If the sauce seems too thin, combine a teaspoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of water in a small saucer. Mix a teaspoon of the water-cornstarch mixture at a time into the sauce and give it a minute to thicken. Add another teaspoon of the mixture if the sauce is still too thin.
8. If the chicken breasts need to be reheated, place them in the sauce for a minute or two. Put the chicken breasts on a plate and pour the sauce with the mushrooms, capers, and onions on top.

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