when life gives you lemons... make a glorious pan sauce?

I drew the inspiration for tonight's dinner from a recipe I made about a year ago. It was a hit then, and it was a hit tonight as well (thank goodness).

The first time I made Lemon-Caper Chicken, I followed this recipe to the letter, and it was FABULOUS!

This time, being the type to never leave well enough alone, I decided that I would put my own little twist on the recipe, so here goes:

Lemon-Caper Chicken

Pan-fried chicken:
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
A generous pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
1/4 c. of all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces

Lemon-caper pan sauce:
1 lemon, sliced and seeded
1/4 c. red onion, chopped very finely
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. pinot grigio (or any other white wine you like)
1/2 c. chicken broth (stock would be fine too)
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. capers, drained
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. lemon thyme

Combine 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, salt and pepper in shallow dish and dredge chicken breasts in mixture, shaking off the excess.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until glistening. Gently place chicken breasts into the skillet along with a few small pieces of butter (you'll want to do this in batches - I only cooked two at a time and divided up the butter between each batch).

Be patient! You'll want to leave the chicken alone until it develops a delicious, golden-brown crust. This takes about 6 minutes or so for the first side, the second side goes a bit quicker, so be vigilant as the batches go.

When you've browned both sides, the chicken is a little more than 3/4 of the way cooked, but for now, remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside and keep warm. I put mine in the oven along with the potatoes I was making for this dinner, but more on that later.

After you've browned all the chicken breasts, put the onion, garlic and sliced lemon into the pan. The lemons will provide just enough liquid to deglaze the skillet and bring up all of those tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Brown bits = euphoria, just saying...  Saute until all the brown bits have been lifted from the bottom of the skillet and the onions begin to soften.

When the onions have softened a bit, pour the pinot grigio into the skillet and increase the heat to medium-high and simmer until the sauce reduces by about half - around 2-3 tablespoons. Remove lemon slices and add the lemon thyme to the sauce (I left mine intact in a small bunch and bound it with butcher's twine).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, another splash of wine and the flour, then pour mixture into reduced sauce. Allow sauce to reach and remain at a boil for about a minute until thickened.

Remove the thyme, stir in the capers, turn off the heat, and finish the sauce by swirling in the butter a few small pieces at a time. This will make the sauce velvety, rich and smooth. Yum!

To serve, spoon sauce over chicken and devour.

Now, a good midwestern meal wouldn't be complete without a starchy, nap-inducing side, so I made a super simple oven-browned potato dish. And to be honest, "dish" is even too fancy a word. Here's the scoop:

Oven Fries (I think the name needs some work, but it'll do for now)

5-7 small russet potatoes, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
2 tbsp. olive oil
House seasoning or grill seasoning of your preference - I used lemon pepper tonight, it was glorious.

Preheat oven to 425° F. Line cookie sheet wth tinfoil and drizzle olive oil over the surface of the foil.

Place potatoes on the pan and roll them around to coat them with the olive oil.

Sprinkle seasoning over the top of the potatoes and bake until you see the bottom edges turning a medium golden brown color.



Check them every once in a while and flip when the underside is a lovely shade of brown. Mmmm, crunchy taters...

Bake until the other side of the potatoes are delectable, crunchy and brown.

Remove from oven, enjoy, and thank me later.

Cheers!

Nicole