Photo by Gwenael Le Vot / iStock
SERVES 2
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature, separated
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for dredging
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup unsalted chicken stock
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Lemon slices
Mix 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon flour in small bowl until smooth. Roll into 2 small balls (called beurre manié). Set aside.
Place chicken halves between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Using meat pounder or bottom of a cast-iron skillet, lightly pound chicken to ¼-inch thickness. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place additional flour and bread crumbs in shallow dish. Dip chicken into flour mixture to coat; shake off excess.
In a large skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add chicken breasts to skillet and cook until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to platter; tent with foil to keep warm.
In the same skillet, bring wine, lemon juice and chicken stock to boil over medium-high heat. Whisk in the beurre manié, one at a time, and boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. (If sauce gets too thick, add more stock until sauce is desired consistency.) Stir in capers, parsley and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken, garnish with lemon slices and serve.
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Recipe tips
Why pound chicken breast? Pounding chicken breasts redistributes the thickness of the meat so the halves become more evenly shaped. This allows the meat to cook faster and evenly and to retain its juiciness. You can use a meat mallet/pounder, but the bottom of a cast-iron skillet is faster, easier and less likely to tear the meat.
What is a beurre manié? This is a kneaded dough of equal parts butter and flour, used to thicken sauces and soups toward the end of the cooking process. It’s the easiest and most desired way of thickening. Adding flour to hot liquids will result in a clumpy sauce. With beurre manié, you prevent this from happening because the individual flour particles are coated with fat (butter). The butter melts as you whisk the beurre manié into the sauces, releasing the flour evenly into the liquid as it thickens.
Stock or broth? The difference is in the ingredients. Stocks are made with bones and vegetables and contain no seasoning or salt. Broths are made with meat and vegetables and are seasoned. Both can be used as the base for soups and sauces. However, the gelatinous quality of stock (from the bones’ marrow) makes it better than broth for deglazing pans and is often used in place of butter or creams to make sauces. If a recipe calls for stock, broth can be substituted—just remember to adjust for the salt and seasonings already included.
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