Quick & Easy: Chicken Picatta

Chicken Picatta is one of my favorites for midweek meals.  There is just something about the combination of lemon, capers, and chicken that I find to be so satisfying.  Add a simple orzo side dish, perhaps a bit of asparagus and it will be happiness on a plate.

This is a dish with many variations out there.  We like that this version has a fairly classic take yet is geared toward the quick and easy style of cooking... making it ideal for week night dinners.  To make it go even faster, we sometimes use the chicken tenders instead of regular sized chicken breasts.

Chicken Piccata

Serves 4
Adapted from MinuteMeals

2-3 large lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 chicken breast, pounded to make thin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons drained capers
3 tablespoons butter

Slice 1 of the lemons into thin slices.  Squeeze 1/4 cup lemon juice from the remaining lemons.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour. 

Heat the oil in non-stick pan.  Add the chicken and sautee until golden brown.  Transfer to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Add the minced garlic to the skillet and stir, cooking for 30 seconds until fragrant but not brown.  Add the sherry, lemon juice, and capers to the pan, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits.  Reduce the sauce by half over medium-high heat, stirring occassionally. 

Turn the heat to low and add the lemon slices, butter, and the chicken. Slowly stirring, just until the butter is melted.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Lemon Steamed Pudding

Looking for a pretty, yummy, slightly different, and relatively not too difficult dessert?  Lemon steamed pudding is sure to impress and is so very good.  It is definitely a great option for a dinner party or for a date night... maybe even for a special occasion night such a Valentines Day or an anniversary.

 

The trickiest part of this dessert is making sure your pan is tall enough so that the foil cover doesn't hit the raising pudding and keeping within in the vicinity of the timer.  This isn't a dessert that you can toss in the oven and forget about for the baking time but it can be made ahead of time and set aside while you finish the dinner.

Oh and did I mention that it is sooo very good?  Really, it is has such an amazing texture and fresh lemony goodness - yum.  We served it with strawberry slices but a candied lemon, dollop of creme fraiche, or strawberry puree would be lovely. 

This was the first recipe that I tried out of my new favorite cook book for sweets The Craft of Baking.  This book is awesome if you like to make desserts and to make sweets.

Lemon Steamed Pudding

Source: The Craft of Baking

Serves 6

4 large eggs, at room temperature
Unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup strained fresh lemon juice (approximately 1 1/2 lemons)

Bring the eggs to room temperature.  Greas the six 4-ounce ramekins with the butter and coat them using the 2 Tbsp of sugar.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 c sugar, the flour, salt, and lemon zest.

Separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a mixing bowl and reserving the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the buttermilk and lemon juice to the yolks and whisk them together until the yolks are broken and everything is well combined.

Make a well in the cetner of the flour mixture and pour about one third of the buttermilk mixture into the center. Whisk together to form a smooth paste.  Add the remaining buttermilk mixture and whisk until well mixed, about 30 seconds.

With the whisk attachment ont he stand mixter, start whipping the egg whites on low speed.  Once they become frothy, turn the mixer speed to medium.  When the whites rise up and become opaque, turn the mixer to medium-high. Continue whipping to soft peaks.  This whole process should take about 5 minutes.

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions, only really fully combining the whites with the last addition. The finished batter will look broken. place the ramekins in a roasting pan with sides higher than the ramekins.  Ladle the batter into the prepared ramekins, filling each all the way to the rim.  Cover the pan with foil, leaving the front side loose.  Place the pan in the oven and pour enough hot water into the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Seal the foil over the pan.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Then open the foil to release the steam; replace the foil and seal it. Rotate the pain and continue to bake until the puddings spring back and the tops feel dry to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes more, checking and releasing the steam after 10 minutes.  Remove the foil from the pan. Carefully transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the puddings cool to room temperature in the water.  Then remove them from the water and store them at room temperature until ready to serve.

Serve the puddings at room temperature, or reheat them gently by returning the ramekins to a water bath in a roasting pan and baking, uncovered, at 325 for 10 minutes.  Carefully turn the puddings out of the ramekins onto dessert plates.  Garnish with candied lemons or sliced strawberries.

The puddings are best served the day they are made.

Enjoy!

~ Tara