So when I hear that sentence: “So who doesn’t like Chicken Picatta? I mean come on it’s the best and easiest to make!” Well, I have to make it and see. So I was asking myself, ‘ How do I elevate this dish? The best way I could see to do so was to change the texture of the chicken but keep all the moisture. So I let the chicken sit in a milk bath for about an hour, then parboiled it in chicken stock for about 60 seconds.
Then I breaded it lightly adding a little parmesan-romano blend into the flour and using some olive oil to sear a nice crispy outside but since it was already parboiled it didn’t need to stay in the pan long. The pasta is the key here to the whole dish. Elevation, height, if your pasta is too heavy it will sink. If it’s too light it will stick. So the best to use in my experience is Angel Hair Pasta. Twirling the pasta on a fork down the handle will give you a nice tower.
However, the star of the show is the Lemon Caper Burre Blanc. This is a test of timing. The ingredients while together make the flavor, In the wrong order they will make the sauce runny and not firm. You have to listen to Julia Childe and make sure you “monte au beurre”. This phrase in French means to “mount with butter”. Very cold butter. I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes before I use it.
It starts with butter and ends with butter. Butter in, then shallots, then garlic, then white wine sauvignon blanc, then the capers, then the lemon juice ( This must be from fresh lemons! Do not use the concentrate in the bottle from the supermarket!). Once these ingredients are in and the pan is getting bubbly with the reduction, then add a little creme fraiche. Now I know this is not traditional, however, it will make it so that the butter in the next step binds to the rest and keeps it from breaking and the sauce tastes fantastic!
So, remove the pan from the heat perform your “monte au beurre” and, slowly add your butter to the pan whisking around the contents until smooth and velvety. Then pass it all through a sieve. Now before you dress your chicken and pasta with the sauce add patted dry cappers to the sauce and serve.
I like to cut the chicken into shapes and arrange them artistically. It’s fun and if the plate to the eyes and the food to the tongue are equally delicious, then you have achieved greatness in a dish!
Until next time… Dig In and May Harmony find you.
~The Taurian Chef
