The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (144 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Chicken piccata is a simple dish that should be easy to get right. But many recipes miss the mark with extraneous ingredients or paltry amounts of lemon juice and capers. We wanted to cook the chicken properly and make a streamlined sauce that would allow the star ingredients to make their presence known. To ensure evenly sized pieces of chicken, we found it best to buy breasts and slice them in half horizontally into thin cutlets. Dredging the cutlets in flour aided in browning. For the sauce, we deglazed the pan with chicken broth and added a shallot (garlic also worked well). For a strong lemon flavor that wasn’t harsh or overly acidic, we simmered thin slices of lemon in the broth and added a full ¹⁄
4
cup of lemon juice at the end of cooking to keep it tasting fresh. We also used plenty of capers—2 tablespoons—adding them when the sauce was nearly done so they retained their flavor and structural integrity.
SERVES 4
To make slicing the chicken easier, freeze it for 15 minutes. Because this sauce is so light, we find that each person should be served 3 cutlets.
2 | lemons |
6 | (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloins removed, trimmed |
¹⁄ | cup all-purpose flour |
Salt and pepper | |
2 | tablespoons plus ¹⁄ |
vegetable oil | |
1 | small shallot, minced, or 1 garlic clove, minced |
1 | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | tablespoons capers, rinsed |
3 | tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled |
2 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
1.
Halve 1 lemon lengthwise. Trim ends from 1 half and slice crosswise ¹⁄
8
to ¹⁄
4
inch thick; set aside. Juice remaining half and whole lemon to obtain ¹⁄
4
cup juice; set aside.
2.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Halve chicken horizontally, then cover chicken halves with plastic wrap and pound to even ¹⁄
4
-inch thickness with meat pounder. Place flour in shallow dish or pie plate.
3.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, dredge in flour mixture, shaking off excess, and transfer to large plate.
4.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place 4 chicken cutlets in skillet and cook until golden brown on first side, about 3 minutes. Flip cutlets, reduce heat to medium, and cook until no longer pink and lightly browned on second side, about 2 minutes longer; transfer to large ovensafe platter. Repeat with remaining ¹⁄
4
cup oil and remaining cutlets, working in 2 batches; transfer to platter. Tent loosely with aluminum foil and transfer to oven to keep warm while making sauce.
5.
Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and lemon slices, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until reduced to ¹⁄
3
cup, about 4 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and capers, bring to simmer, and cook until reduced to ¹⁄
3
cup, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.
Add ¹⁄
2
teaspoon coarsely ground pepper to sauce along with lemon juice and capers.
Add 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into pieces 1 inch long and ¹⁄
4
wide, to skillet along with shallot and cook until prosciutto is lightly crisped, about 45 seconds.
Add ¹⁄
4
cup pitted and chopped black olives to sauce along with lemon juice and capers.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Exposing boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the intensity of a hot pan usually yields dry, leathery meat. We wanted pan-seared boneless, skinless breasts every bit as flavorful, moist, and tender as their skin-on counterparts. After much trial and error, we landed on a novel solution: First we salted the breasts (and poked them with a fork to help the salt penetrate the meat) and cooked them, covered, in a low oven. We then seared the breasts in a hot skillet on the stovetop. Salting the chicken breasts helped keep them moist, as did finishing them covered in the oven. Coating the chicken with a mixture of butter, flour, and cornstarch before searing gave our breasts a crisp, even crust.
SERVES 4
For the best results, buy similarly sized chicken breasts. If the breasts have the tenderloin attached, leave it in place and follow the upper range of baking time in step 1. For optimal texture, sear the chicken immediately after removing it from the oven. We prefer kosher salt in this recipe. If using table salt, reduce salt amounts by half. The chicken can be prepared without the pan sauce; if not making pan sauce, let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving in step 2. More pan sauce recipes follow.
CHICKEN
4 | (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed |
2 | teaspoons kosher salt |
1 | tablespoon vegetable oil |
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter, melted |
1 | tablespoon all-purpose flour |
1 | teaspoon cornstarch |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
PAN SAUCE
1 | shallot, minced |
1 | teaspoon all-purpose flour |
1 | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
1 | tablespoon lemon juice |
1 | tablespoon minced fresh chives |
1 | tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled |
Salt and pepper |
1. FOR THE CHICKEN:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Using fork, poke thickest half of breasts 5 to 6 times and sprinkle with ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt. Transfer breasts, skinned side down, to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until breasts register 145 to 150 degrees, 30 to 40 minutes.
2.
Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up, to paper towel–lined plate and pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. While skillet is heating, whisk butter, flour, cornstarch, and pepper together in bowl. Lightly brush top of chicken with half of butter mixture. Place chicken in skillet, coated side down, and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. While chicken browns, brush with remaining butter mixture. Flip chicken, reduce heat to medium, and cook until second side is browned and chicken registers 160 degrees, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate and let rest while preparing sauce (if not making pan sauce, let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving).
3. FOR THE PAN SAUCE:
Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to vigorous simmer and cook until reduced to ³⁄
4
cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices; return to simmer and cook for 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in lemon juice, chives, and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.
MAKES ABOUT
³⁄
4
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED CHICKEN BREASTS
Be sure to add broth to skillet before adding bourbon.
1 | shallot, minced |
1 | teaspoon all-purpose flour |
³⁄ | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
¹⁄ | cup bourbon |
¹⁄ | cup dried cranberries |
¹⁄ | teaspoon minced fresh thyme |
1 | tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled |
1 | teaspoon red wine vinegar |
Salt and pepper |
Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth, then bourbon, cranberries, and thyme, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to vigorous simmer and cook until reduced to ³⁄
4
cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices; return to simmer and cook for 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in butter and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.
MAKES ABOUT
³⁄
4
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED CHICKEN BREASTS
We prefer whole grain mustard, but Dijon mustard can be substituted.
1 | shallot, minced |
1 | teaspoon fennel seeds |
1 | teaspoon all-purpose flour |
³⁄ | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
¹⁄ | cup dry vermouth or dry white wine |
2 | tablespoons whole grain mustard |
1 | tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled |
1 | teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon |
Salt and pepper |
Add shallot and fennel seeds to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until shallot is softened and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth and vermouth, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to vigorous simmer and cook until reduced and measures ³⁄
4
cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices; return to simmer and cook for 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in mustard, butter, and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
The idea of oven-barbecued chicken is an appealing one; combine the ease of a weeknight chicken dish with the sweet, tangy, spicy flavors of a rich tomatoey sauce—without firing up the grill. But tough, dry chicken slathered in greasy, stale-tasting sauce is usually the result. For juicy, tender, and evenly cooked chicken, we found that mild-tasting boneless, skinless chicken breasts made the perfect backdrop for a Kansas City–style sauce. We lightly seared the breasts in a skillet, removed them from the pan, and then made a simple barbecue sauce right in the same pan. To finish, we returned the chicken to the pan, placed it in the oven to finish cooking, and then turned on the broiler to lightly caramelize the sauce.