I love to Cook!!

I love to cook, always have.  I like tried and true recipes and I like trying new recipes.  I read cookbooks like most people read a novel. Lately I have been trying more new recipes. Fortunately I have a very willing taste tester.  Paul is great and he enjoys my new adventures.  Although he does question why I photograph each step of a recipe. I guess it's because I also love to take pictures. So I am going to try to combine the two loves and see what happens. 

Okay here is my latest new recipe.

Chicken Piccata

Select 2 chicken breasts, I use the skinless, boneless flash frozen version.  Place both thawed breasts in a zip top bag and pound until thin and even thickness.

 Season and lightly dredge in flour, shake excess flour off.

Set  chicken aside

Gather the remaining ingredients.

Place 2 Tablespoons butter and 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or EVOO in a large skillet.

Heat oil and butter until melted.  Remember butter has a low smoke/burn point so watch this closely.

Once the butter is melted, mix the two oils together.

Carefully add each floured chicken breast into the oil/butter mixture.

Cook over medium heat until brown on both sides

When the chicken is nicely browned remove from pan and set aside.

Add 1/3 cup chilled white wine, to deglaze the pan that the chicken was cooked in and reduce.

  Stir to loosen the fronds or brown bits stuck to the pan.

Add one cup chicken stock and 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice.  Stir.

Add 2 Tablespoons of chopped sun dried tomatoes.  (not the oil packed variety)

Add 2 Tablespoons capers.  

Bring to a boil and reduce the sauce by half.  Turn heat down and simmer

While this simmers, now is the time to cook the pasta.

One of the reasons I selected this dish is that I bought some homemade pasta at our local farmer's market and wanted to use it.  This is Tomato, Basil, Garlic Fettuccine.

Bring your water to a full rolling boil with a teaspoon of olive oil and dash of salt.

Cook pasta until al denta, which means to the tooth, or still has a little chew to it.  

Pasta will continue to cook once removed from the water, so don't over cook it.

Now chop 1 Tablespoon of Italian parsley.  Rough cut, not too fine.

Once the sauce has reduced add 1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream and 2 Tablespoons cold butter.

Mix cream and butter into the sauce

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Add the cooked chicken breasts back to the pan.

Add the cooked and drained pasta.

Lightly toss to coat the fettuccine.

Garnish with the chopped parsley.

Serve with a glass of white wine and enjoy.