America’s Test Kitchen

In the 1990s, my father had reached a breaking point. He refused to eat another dry, skinless chicken breast. He claimed it tasted like sawdust. Ouch.  

Born and raised in Missouri, he wanted his chicken deep-fried and smothered with gravy. This man’s favorite meal was fried chicken, peas, mashed potatoes, and milk gravy. Given a choice, he would eat gravy at dinner, lunch, and breakfast. The challenge was that I didn’t know how to make gravy, and I was convinced that he needed to eat less fried food. 

If I had known about this recipe for Chicken Piccata, then the “Boneless Chicken Breast Uprising” would never have happened. He would have thoroughly enjoyed the delicious combination of textures and flavors of Chicken Piccata. I could have snuck in that skinless and boneless breast disguised as a pan-fried chicken cutlet, completed by the bright, tangy, and savory lemon butter sauce, as long as I called it gravy. Oh, who am I fooling? Nothing was ever going to replace that white gravy. But this is a good recipe that I think you should try. 

Ingredients

• 2 Lemons (large)
• 4 Chicken boneless, skinless breasts (1 ½ lb)
• Salt and Pepper
• ½ C All-purpose flour
• 4 T Vegetable oil
• 1 Shallot (small), minced or garlic clove minced
• 1 C Chicken broth
• 2 T Capers, drained
• 3 T Unsalted butter
• 2 T Parsley, minced

Directions

• Adjust oven rack to lower middle position. Place the oven-safe plate onto the rack and heat it at 200 degrees. 
• Halve one lemon pole to pole. Trim ends from one half and cut into slices ¼ inch thick.  Set aside.
• Juice remaining lemon to obtain ¼ cup lemon juice.  
• Halve the chicken horizontally, cover with plastic wrap, and pound them to ¼-inch thickness.
• Salt and pepper the chicken.
• Place flour into a shallow dish. Coat chicken with flour and shake to remove excess. 
• Heat two tablespoons of oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium to medium-high heat until shimmering—lay ½ of the chicken into the skillet. 
• Cook chicken until it is lightly brown on the first side, two to three minutes, then cook the other side for about the same time.
• Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the chicken to the warm plate in the oven.  Add the remaining two tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the remaining chicken and cook both sides until lightly brown. Remove the chicken to the warm plate in the oven.
• Add shallot/garlic to the now-empty skillet and return the heat to medium. Cook until fragrant (30 seconds).
• Add broth and lemon slices, and increase the heat to high. Scrape the pan bottom to loosen brown bits. Simmer liquid until it reduces to 1/3 cup (about 5 minutes).
• Add lemon juice and capers, then simmer until the sauce reduces again (about 3 minutes).
• Remove the pan from the heat and swirl in the butter until it melts and thickens the sauce. Stir in parsley and add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve. This serves about four people.