Tag Archives: easy

Apr19

Week Night Dinner: Chicken Piccata

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So easy, so delicious and made with just a few simple ingredients. I served it with pasta as the extra sauce goes perfectly with it. We had a salad as a final course. I buy boneless breasts on sale and freeze. I  always have  lemons and capers on hand. and of course you can do this with veal or pork cutlets too.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp granulated garlic
  • fresh cracked pepper ~ or Lemon Garlic Pepper
  • crushed red pepper to taste
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • 6 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 dry white wine or dry vermouth
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice (I used Meyer)
  • 1/2 cup brined capers
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

METHOD

  • Put the chicken breasts between two pieces of waxed paper and pound them with a meat hammer to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut them up into pieces a little smaller than the palm of your hand.
  • Put the cheese and a bit of parsley into a mini processor and process till the cheese is about the size of couscous.
  • Mix together  flour, salt, peppers, and grated Parmesan.  Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, until well coated. *Note some people like a thicker coating, if you do dredge in plain flour first, then in an egg wash and finally in the cheese and flour mixture. I like mine lightly breaded.
  •  Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces, do not crowd the pan. Brown well on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve to an oven proof pan. Place in a warming drawer or a 300 degree oven. Cook the remaining chicken pieces,  remove from pan. Keep warm in the oven while you prepare the sauce.
  • On medium/low heat. Add the wine & lemon juice to the pan and stir to deglaze and loosen. Add capers to the pan. Reduce the sauce by half.
  • Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce poured over the chicken. Garnish with remaining parsley. Use extra sauce on pasta and toss.
  • If you have left over breading, you can toast it on a silpat and use it as a topping for other things.

Mar1

Grilled Baby Bok Choy

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So simple and so delicious! Grilled Baby Bok Choy… 

Bok Choy ready for the grill

Baby bok choy is one of many Asian greens available here year round. In our farmer’s market a bouquet sized bunch of it is just $1. If you live on the mainland, you may have to wait for Spring to get fresh local bok choy, but it does grow everywhere in temperate months. It is also very easy to grow in the garden.
  After you have soaked the bok choy in water and drained it, all you do is cut each baby bok choy in half and trim the thin upper leaves a little. Then drizzle with a simple lemon vinaigrette (1/4 cup of lemon juice, ½ cup of olive oil, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt and two tablespoons of agave syrup) and allow the bok choy to rest in the marinade. I also had some golden beets that I had roasted and I sliced them thickly and placed them in the marinade too.
 
Heat a grill on high and once it is good and hot, turn down to medium. Place the baby bok choy on the grill, being careful of flare ups because of the marinade. I keep a water bottle handy. It only takes about 2-3 minutes on each side, just till you see some grill marks, you want the greens with just a little crunch. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper to taste.
 
You can also use a more Asian marinade instead, but I like the freshness lemon adds to the dish. You could also use other baby Asian greens such as baby Tat Soy.

Dinner is served