For the past few weeks I have been craving lemons like nobody's business.
Who knows why. Maybe it's something my body needed. Maybe it's because they smell so fantastic. Maybe it's because they remind me of warm weather.
Why do we have to explain it away? Can't a girl just have a thing for lemons without having to justify herself?
Soon this lemon obsession began taking over. Lemons made their way into my water, potato salad, dressings, pan sauces. You name it, I wanted it lemon flavored.
One dish in particular that I created during my lemon feast, chicken piccata, was at the top of my list for "best in taste". Lemony, buttery, salty, tangy, and delicious. This chicken piccata is a lemon lover's dream!
It's is typically made with pounded chicken breasts or chicken cutlets. If you have those, by all means use them. I don't usually buy that cut of meat anymore because boneless chicken breasts tend to dry out and be tasteless. Plus at my house, bones=stock. I have grown to love thighs over the past few years, so that's what I used, bone-in skin on thighs. If you do use a thinner boneless part of a chicken, you probably won't need to bake it in the oven to finish cooking. The cooking can probably be completed right there in the skillet. In this recipe, since the thighs are thicker, the outside browns faster than the inside can cook, so I finished it in the oven.
When I make this dish, I often use regular glutenized (Yeah, just made that up) flour, but feel free to use almond flour, arrowroot, gluten-free flour, or another flour that tickles your fancy if you can't have regular ol' flour.
Just make it. It's easy enough for a weeknight, but sounds and looks fancy enough for company.
Dredge chicken in seasoned flour, then plop it in the butter and olive oil hot tub.
Brown both sides and place in a 9x13 baking dish. Chicken will not be cooked in the middle, so don't freak out. You do want a nice golden color when you flip it over though.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until chicken is done.
Meanwhile, make sauce with chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, garlic, butter, and drippings from chicken in the oven. Add fresh herbs if desired.
Pour sauce over chicken when plating. Garnish with fresh herbs of choosing.
Now scarf down your chicken like a beast and lick your plate while you're at it. I won't tell.
Chicken piccata
Ingredients
- 2 T. olive oil
- 2 T. butter
- 6-8 chicken thighs
- ½ cup flour whole wheat, einkorn, unbleached white, almond, tapioca or arrowroot
- 2 cloves pressed or minced garlic
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup capers
- 2 T. butter
- fresh herbs if desired parsley, thyme
Instructions
- Melt butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season flour with salt and pepper.
- Dredge chicken thighs in seasoned flour and place in skillet.
- Brown chicken and flip to other side to brown as well.
- Place browned chicken thighs in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked all the way through.
- Meanwhile in the skillet in which the chicken cooked, add garlic and cook for approx. 30 seconds.
- Add broth, lemon juice, salt, and capers.
- Simmer until sauce has reduced almost half.
- Remove chicken from oven.
- Stir into the sauce, 2 T. butter and drippings from the chicken. Add fresh herbs if desired.
- Pour sauce over chicken when plating.
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