My Mom's Chicken Piccata Recipe (2024)

74.3%
Fat

21.5%
Protein

4.2%
Carbs

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

• 4 each whole boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup parsley chopped and divided
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 each lemons
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh whole butter cubed
• 1/3 cup capers rinsed and dried on towel
• 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

• Butterfly the chicken breasts (or buy them that way). Lay a chicken breast on a flat cutting board. Place a knife parallel to the cutting board, about 1/2 inch above the surface. Slice into the breast, maintaining a slice that is parallel to the cutting board and essentially cuts the breast in half. Both top and bottom halves should be equal in thickness.

• Once you've got thin sheets of chicken breast, place each piece between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound even thinner. You can use a mallet, rolling pin, or even the bottom of a sauce pan. Just be careful to hit it flatly and evenly, or else you will make deep divots in the chicken. Ideally, the chicken will be a thin and even sheet of chicken breast when you are done.

• Remove each slice from the plastic and VERY lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.

• Mix together the almond flour and half of the chopped parsley.

• Dredge the sheets of chicken within the almond flour mixture. Coat them well and then just leave the chicken within the almond flour. As it stays in there, the moisture will continue to release from the chicken, which will travel out into the almond flour, making a slightly thicker crust and better adhesion.

• While the chicken hangs out in the almond flour, put a small pot of water on the stove to boil.

• Use a vegetable peeler to peel the very thin outside layer of one lemon. You want strips of only the yellow part (the zest, not the pith).

• Stack the little strips of yellow zest on top of one another, and then slice them into very thin little strands or strips. Drop these into the boiling water for 30 seconds (this removes the acrid bitterness). Remove the blanched strands of lemon zest from the water and set aside.

• Juice the two lemons and set the juice aside.

• Place a large sauté pan on the stove to begin heating up.

• In a large sauté pan, over medium-high heat, add your olive oil. When it begins to lightly ripple, add some chicken slices. Fit as many slices into the pan as is possible, without the slices resting on any other part of the other pieces. There should be one clear layer of chicken. Add 1/6th of the butter and let it melt in the pan. Swirl the pan around.

• When the chicken is golden around the edges, carefully flip the chicken to brown the other side.

• Once the chicken is brown, remove it and set it aside somewhere warm. Repeat this process, adding a little bit of butter and oil, until all the chicken is cooked.

• After all the chicken has been cooked, add a small amount of oil and the capers. Fry them up!

• Before anything gets burned, add the chicken stock and lemon juice.

• Reduce the sauce by about half, or until it begins to very slightly, but ... noticeably ... thicken.

• Make sure you have about 3 tablespoons of fresh butter left, at this point. It should be cubed into about 12 little cubes.

• Turn the heat off the pan and add a small piece of cold fresh butter to the pan and swirl it around. When one piece of butter is about halfway melted, add a second piece of cold fresh butter. When that second piece is halfway melted, add a third piece. Keep swirling in the cold fresh pieces of butter, until it has created a lovely and luxurious chicken/lemon jus. (this is done in this manner, so that the butter is incorporated into the jus, without simply melting and forming an oil slick on the top of the stock. This slow cold swirling method emulsifies it into the stock in a method known as "Monté" (pronounced "Mont-tay")).

• At the last minute, add the lemon zest and fresh chopped parsley to the sauce.

• Divide the chicken between 4 plates and pour the sauce over each.

• Serve!