Heirloom Tomato Chicken Piccata Stack

TThe definition of piccata Piccata is a thin slice of meat that’s usually chicken or veal. It’s used in cooking to saute and dredge in flour. A piccata is typically associated with Italian cooking although it’s quite possible it actually originated in the U.S. in the 1930s in Italian-American kitchens. The immigrants who first created the dish were likely of Sicilian descent since the ingredients – lemons, capers, garlic – were so common in Sicilian cooking. It was originally made with veal which was cheaper than chicken during that period.

• Tambi Lane Photo
• Heirloom tomatoes and thinly pounded chicken slices stacked and drenched in luxurious lemon caper butter sauce

This recipe calls for chicken. I prefer chicken to be pound flat, so I prefer that you pound the chicken flat and not thinly slice it with a knife. The pounding gives the meat tenderness, and once it is cooked in the lemon butter, the meat melts in your stomach. Piccata’s real star is, in my opinion, its sauce. It is lemony, briny, buttery, and downright luxurious, according to me.

In this version, I’ve added in-season heirloom tomatoes For a new twist on the classic dish, Tomatoes are in season through October in Oregon (and in Paris, where I’m writing from this week) and there are certainly some good ones available now. You can also stack the tomato slices with chicken slices, which looks fancy.

Please don’t be shy about making this sauce. It was so easy to make at home that I was amazed at the results. In other words, if you taste it after using the ingredient amounts that I’m suggesting in the recipe and it doesn’t taste the way you were hoping it would, you can add more lemon or more wine/liquid or more capers or more salt or whatever. Taste is the key. The sauce must be tasted. I typically start tasting it after I’ve added the first bit of butter after stirring in the garlic, capers and lemon. I add more butter and lemon. This dish is quick to make and cooks quickly. Have everything in place before you even start browning the chicken because once you get going, there’s no down time. Bon Appetit

Click here to enlarge

• Photo courtesy Donna Britt
• Heirloom tomatoes are in season now

Heirloom Tomato Chicken Piccata Stack

Serves 4

· 4 to 8 chicken breasts, thinly sliced and/or pounded (you can butterfly larger breasts to make two pieces if you want – the idea is to end up with 2 palm-size pounded pieces of  FLAT chicken for each serving)

· ½ cup all-purpose flour

· Big pinch each of salt & freshly ground black pepper

· 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

· 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

· ¼ to ½ cup white wine

· 4-5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or minced

· 1-2 tablespoons capers

· Fresh lemon juice (from at least one lemon – add more lemon juice to taste)

· 1-2 more tablespoons of butter

· 2-3 large heirloom tomatoes, thickly sliced

· Parsley sprig & lemon slices for garnish, as desired

Mix flour with salt & pepper on a large platter or plate. Lightly coat both sides of chicken pieces with flour mixture. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter on medium-high heat.

Chicken pieces that are lightly brown. It will take only a few minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate or platter.

Once the chicken is gone, pour wine into the same pan. Heat on medium-high. Stir in the garlic, capers, lemon juice, and butter to the bubbling vin. Continue stirring until desired consistency is achieved. To make the sauce thinner, add more wine, broth, or water. You can adjust the amount of butter, capers, and lemon you use to make it more delicious. You may also want to add more salt & pepper but be sure and taste before you do. Add the chicken back to the sauce and heat through.

Serve one piece of chicken per plate. Place a slice of tomato on each plate. Next, add another piece. Finally, stack another tomato on top. Serve the sauce by drizzling it over the stack. If desired, garnish the plate with lemon or parsley.

Serve it with a slice warm bread with olive oils and a side dish of something green.

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