Chicken Piccata

This is Chad's favorite dish lately. He asks for it almost every week. Lots of people have asked for this recipe, so here it is. Some people don't use bread crumbs (they just dredge in seasoned flour-and go right to the pan) but I just love extra crispy chicken.

I have doubled and tripled this recipe and it always works out great.

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast- Split into 2
(I have split this two diferent ways- I butterflied the breast so there is less pounding needed, I have also halved [length-wise] and then pounded, I thought both worked great- You can also buy chicken cutlets which are already cut thin so you can skip splitting and pounding all together)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
(I have even used some crushed up boxed stuffing mix- I didn't worry about making it uniform- some of the crumbs were much larger than others and I thought the texture was great)
Good olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1-2 lemons)- (I have used the bottled lemon juice- It obviously isn't as good but it's fine in a pinch)
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
Sliced lemon, for serving- Optional
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving- Optional


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or in a plastic bag and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, dip in the egg- again shaking off excess, and then dip in bread crumbs, lightly pressing to make sure the bread crumbs really stick.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until browned.(If you are making more than 2 pieces of chicken make sure to only put a few in the pan at a time so they can brown well) Place them on the sheet pan-(they can sit while you cook more chicken if needed) Bake for about 10 minutes- until cooked through.

For the sauce, wipe out the pan with a paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, broth, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (Some people add capers here- about 1/4 cup- I don't). Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2-5 minutes. Off the heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter and lightly stir to combine. Salt and pepper more if needed.

Serve chicken with a sliced lemon and sprinkle with fresh parsley. I like to serve the sauce on the side, mainly because some people like more or less sauce than me.