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(upbeat music)
All right, so the chicken aspect of chicken picatta
is usually butterfly.
Before we do that, we're gonna start by trimming off
any excess fat or connective tissue.
Then starting on the thicker side of the breast,
we're cutting the breast in half width-wise,
opening it up like a book.
Then if we get the chicken nice and thin,
it's going to cook faster
retain more moisture and be less stringy.
So we're covering the chicken breast
with plastic wrap and pounding flat
using a meat mallet or other heavy flat thing.
Next up we're dredging the chicken
in some lightly seasoned flour.
Nothing more than a little kosher salt
and freshly ground black pepper,
maybe some dried oregano or basil.
Dip and flip the chicken until thoroughly coated.
Maybe you let them hang out for a minute or two,
which can help the flour's adherence.
Then we're headed over the stove top,
where we've got a few tablespoons of vegetable oil
shimmering over medium, high heat in a large skillet.
Drop in both breasts
and sear for 3 to 5 minutes on each side.
If some stuff sticks, don't worry about it, that's flavor.
Or as it's sometimes called, fond.
Give it a fresh squirt of oil
and saute a few tablespoons of capers in there,
just for about 30 seconds
or until they smell extra caper-y.
Then over medium heat, we're de-glazing the pan
with one cup of preferably homemade chicken stock,
seizing the opportunity to scrape up
all that good stuff off the bottom of the pot.
Before squeezing in the juice of one lemon
and cooking down until reduced by about half.
Before mounting with butter, that is,
killing the heat and adding three tablespoons worth
of cold, cubed butter.
Whisking to emulsify into a creamy sauce
into which we're gonna deposit our rested chicken breasts,
with their resting juices.
Turning to coat and allowing to reheat
in the residual heat of the pan.
Plate it up with a pile of buttered spaghetti
And there you have it, a non-red sauce staple
of red sauce Italian joints, chicken picatta.
Make sure to top up with extra sauce,
capers and chopped parsley.
And it looks pretty handsome and familiar
but how does it taste?
It tastes just how you're imagining it.
Sauce-y, lemon-y, chicken-y, caper-y,
an undisputable classic.
But how can we amp it up?
First we can sprinkle kosher salt
on both sides of our butterflied breasts
and let them hang out at room temperature
for half an hour, both deeply seasoning them
and helping them retain moisture.
Now you might be asking yourself,
is this guy drying off capers?
And the answer to that question is yes.
That's because I'm gonna briefly fry them
in some shimmering hot oil, creating crispy fried capers.
A perfect garnish for such a caper-centric dish.
We're gonna spoon them out
and let them drain on paper towels.
And then we've got a few tablespoons
of nice caper-flavored oil to saute our chicken in.
Same here, three to five minutes on each side
until browned and cooked through.
To prevent things from burning,
try to flip the chicken in the same spot.
It's gonna mean less spots of uncovered fond
that can more easily burn.
Take out the chicken and this time
we're gonna saute one small chopped shallot in there.
Add a little more oil if necessary.
And then we're gonna add two cloves of minced garlic.
Sauteing for about 30 seconds or until fragrant
before de-glazing with half a cup of chicken stock
and half a cup of chicken wine, I mean, white wine.
Add two tablespoons of capers,
the juice of one lemon, optionally its zest.
And while this simmers and gently reduces by half,
we're gonna start cooking our pasta
in a nearby shallow pot of water.
This time, in addition to a tablespoon of chopped parsley,
I've got a teaspoon each of chopped basil and oregano,
and for more lemony flavor, as well as presentation,
a few slices of lemon.
Once this guy's about reduced by half,
I'm gonna add the chicken breasts
back to the sauce to coat them, allowing them to simmer
and cook the rest of the way through if necessary.
Remove them and the lemon slices from the sauce.
Then we're gonna add in our chopped fresh herbs.
Let those simmer together for about 30 seconds.
And then once the pasta is about a minute shy of cooked,
we're adding it directly to the sauce
along with a half cup of pasta cooking water.
Mix this guy up and simmer for another one to two minutes
until the pasta is done cooking.
Kill the heat, mount with three, four tablespoons of butter,
season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Make sure that sauce is nice and emulsified
and creamy before serving.
Maybe using the old carving fork and a soup ladle trick,
twirling the pasta into an attractive nest
on which we're gonna drop one of our chicken breasts,
some lemon slices, extra fresh herbs
over top for a pop of flavor and color.
And of course, for a little crunch, our fried capers.
And there you have it, the same dish in spirit
but a few tweaks to amp up flavor, texture and presentation.
Which is one of the most important lessons
you can learn in the kitchen.
Little ways to amplify your existing favorites.
You could also apply what you've seen here
to other chicken and pasta dishes like Marsala.
In that case, you might saute
some extra mushrooms separately
to preserve their color and texture.
Then likewise finish the pasta
in the decadent wine sauce before mounting with butter.
Thanks again to Simply Safe for sponsoring this episode.
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Visit simplysafe.com/babish to learn more.
(light music)