Chicken or veal piccata

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 Chicken breasts
Flour seasoned with salt and pepper
½ cup White wine (I've made this with Manischevitz Concord Grape for a more sweet-and-sour flavor)
¼ cup Olive oil
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
2 teaspoons Capers
2 packs Frozen spinach
⅓ pounds Mushrooms, sliced
4 Green onions (white part only; reserve green for other purposes like garnishes, or chopped into a green salad, or when making chicken stock) -or- (up to 6)
2 Shallots, chopped finely
1 Clove garlic, chopped finely

Directions

Separate breasts into halves. Put each ½-breast between two sheets of waxed paper and pound lightly to even out the meat. Trim edges with small, sharp paring knife. Dredge lightly in seasoned flour and place on rack in fridge for about 45 minutes to "set" the flour.

Thaw spinach and drain. Place spinach in a sieve and press out remaining water, taking care not to push the spinach through the sieve.

In a pan with a 1-2 tbsp. olive oil (I agree with Debra Fran Baker on that) saute garlic and green onion until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender and liquid has evaporated. Add spinach and mix until everything is well-stirred and spinach is warm. NOTE: There should be enough liquid to make the spinach moist, but not to excess (dripping on plate). Keep warm in 200:F oven.

Wipe the pan with a paper towel and add the rest of the oil. Heat oil to a high degree. Be careful, because olive is not the ideal frying oil and will smoke and burn at lower temperatures than, say, canola or peanut oil.

Place chicken in a single layer in pan, making sure the edges of each piece do not touch. Fry chicken for about 2 minutes, turn the pieces over and fry other other side for another 2-3 minutes.

Divide spinach into 4 parts and mound in center of each plate. Drape chicken over spinach.

Back to the frying pan. Drain off excess oil/chicken fat. Return pan to stove and turn up heat to high. Add wine to pan and with a spatula scrape up any brown bits or deposits left in pan (this is what's called "deglazing"). Add lemon juice and let reduce liquids until sauce is somewhat thickened. Stir in capers and pour sauce over chicken/spinach.

Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V96 #84 Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 10:53:38 -0800 From: Brian Mailman <bmailman@...>

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