LAURA LEE ALICE
COOKS
®
This is a simple recipe for Chicken Piccata. It has a light, smooth, and
lemony sauce that is great over Jasmine rice or noodles. The capers have a
unique taste and compliment the flavor of the lemon. This recipe goes great
with rice and roasted broccoli as a side.
Even though capers are optional in this dish, their flavor is usually
described as savory and bright. To me, they have a bit of a lemon taste,
which is why they complement this recipe.
A larger breast, like this one from a turkey, can be sliced into multiple
cutlets when serving a large group.
About the ingredients:
• Flour: You will need plain, all-purpose flour.
• Sea salt
• Black pepper: Fresh cracked pepper is you have it.
• Chicken breasts: You will need 2 breasts, about a half a pound
each. They need to be sliced across the length into cutlets, about ½-inch
thick. You want an even thickness so they cook evenly.
• Lemon: You will need one whole lemon, halved. One half needs to be
cut into thin slices. You will need the juice from the other half.
• Chicken stock or bone broth: A good stock adds so much depth to
the sauce. See my recipe here.
• Cream: Use heavy cream for a thick, creamy sauce
• Butter: Use ghee or clarified butter. You could also use schmaltz (which is
melted chicken fat).
• Capers: A type of small, pickled flower buds, very flavorful.
Favorite Things
from
the Kitchen
Ingredients
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 chicken breasts (about 1 pound total), sliced into ½-inch thick cutlets*
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ lemon, seeds removed and cut into thin slices
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp Capers, drained
• Juice from ½ lemon
Instructions
1. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a large shallow dish; dredge the chicken in
the flour mixture and shake off excess.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and the oil in large skillet over medium-high
heat; brown chicken on each side in batches; move to layers of paper
towels to drain.
3. Add the lemon slices to the pan and cook about 30 seconds; add the
stock and simmer for 3 minutes or until reduced; stir in cream
4. Reduce heat to low; stir in the remaining butter, capers, and lemon juice.
5. Return chicken to skillet and cook until sauce is thickened and chicken is
hot, up to 4 minutes.
*Chicken (or turkey) breasts that have been sliced horizontally.
Tips & Options
• Top the finished dish with ¾ cup shredded Swiss cheese and place under
broiler until golden brown.
Recipes are like stories; they can change from person to person. Everyone has their idea of how a recipe should be, even
though it may have changed from the original. We will never know the true author of the original recipe, regardless of
what some may say. That's why I go back and look through the oldest cookbooks that I can find. Sometimes it's not the
recipe in the books that I find, but the tiny pieces of handwritten recipes and newspaper articles that are stuck within
the pages. That's where the real story is, finding those simple Southern recipes. -Mac