chicken piccata.

Chicken in a wonderful lemon, caper sauce. This recipe feeds 6 to 8. Recipe can easily be cut in half for a smaller crowd. I made a lot of sauce so that it could be poured over the fettuccine and the chicken. If you are just making the chicken, cut the sauce in half.

For the chicken:

4 chicken breasts, fresh or defrosted

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

1/2 t. paprika

2-4 T butter (or olive oil)

For the sauce:

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay)

2 lemons, juiced

2 T capers

salt and pepper, to taste

3 T butter

2 to 3 T fresh parsley, rinsed and chopped

13 oz whole wheat fettuccine, optional, cooked according to package directions

Place your defrosted chicken between two pieces of wax paper. Using a mallet, pound the chicken until each piece is about 1/2" thick. If you would rather, you can butterfly the chicken. Heat 2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil) in a large skillet over medium high heat. In a shallow bowl, pour 1/4 cup of milk. In another shallow bowl, combine 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper and paprika. When butter is melted in the hot skillet, place each piece of chicken in the milk then dredge the chicken in the flour mixture until well coated. Be careful not to overcrowd the chicken. If you need to cook the chicken in batches, add more butter to the pan before the second batch, if needed. Cook chicken until browned on each side. Make sure the internal temperature is at least 170 degrees. Move chicken from a skillet to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

If you are going to serve with fettuccine noodles, cook the noodles according to box directions. Drain when finished cooking and place the fettuccine in the bottom of your serving dish. If you are not finished with the chicken or sauce before the noodles finish, cover with foil to keep warm.

In the same skillet you cooked the chicken, make your sauce. Turn heat down to medium. Add three cloves of minced garlic to the pan. Add white wine, lemon juice and capers. Scrap the sides and bottom of your pan to combine bits with wine mixture. Add salt and pepper, if necessary. Add three tablespoons of butter to your skillet. Let butter melt and then whisk to combine sauce.

Place cooked chicken over cooked fettuccine. Pour sauce over chicken and noodles. Garnish with fresh, chopped parsley.

xx.

val