Chicken Piccata

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite Italian dish has been chicken piccata. There's something so comforting about breaded chicken in a thick lemon and caper sauce. It always send's me right back to my childhood dining with my family at the Chase restaurant in Santa Barbara. So when I saw a chicken piccata recipe on Jocooks.com, I thought I would try whipping it up at home. Let me tell you, the dish was just as good as any restaurant, divine. The secret is using Meyer lemons, they have that extreme lemony flavor and produce so much juice.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise, organic if possible
• Flour for dredging chicken 
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp EVOO
• 1/3 C fresh lemon juice (Myer if possible), requires about 4 medium sized lemons total, 3 for juice, one for garnish
• 1/2 C dry white wine or chicken stock (I prefer wine)
• 1/4 C brined capers
• 1/3 C fresh parsley, chopped

Here's what you do:

• Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.
• In large skillet, melt 2 Tbsp of butter with olive oil over medium to high heat
• Add chicken pieces to skillet and cook on both sides for about 3-4 minutes until a bit browned. Remove chicken from pan.

• Remove skillet from heat and add the lemon juice, capers, chicken stock/ white wine and scrape up the bits from the pan for extra flavor and stir. 
• Return skillet to heat and bring to a boil.

• Return chicken to skillet and simmer for about 5 mins.
• Remove chicken from skillet and add the other 2 Tbsp butter to pan and whisk for a minute or so while the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
• Return chicken to skillet and garnish with parsley and lemon slices.