Chicken Piccata with Parmesan Breadcrumbs, Capers and Saffron Rice

A crowd pleaser for picky eaters

We have friends whose list of things they don’t eat makes entertaining a challenge. No red meat. No dark chicken meat….the list goes on and on so that it’s fairly difficult to create a pleasing menu. I prepared this chicken piccata for them, however, and they were all smiles. This chicken will almost always please even a picky child, and at the same time you’ll receive approval from your more sophisticated eaters.

I like to get all the prep work done ahead and have every ingredient measured and ready to throw together in quick succession. Slice the breasts in half and pound them earlier in the day, then store them in the fridge separated by sheets of parchment paper. Pounding to consistent thickness ensures they will cook fast and evenly. I normally bread the breasts just before guests arrive. Thats the messy part. I put the breadcrumbs, egg and flour containers in the sink. When I’m finished, I wash it all down the sink so the mess is contained.

When guests arrive, you can heat the pan, cook the chicken, and construct the sauce in about 20 minutes. If you are serving your chicken with rice, you can make that an hour ahead, too. If you wish to cook more than two breasts at once, it’s helpful to use a two-burner stovetop griddle. This gives you more real estate to cook three or four at once.

You can serve the chicken with rice, pasta tossed in the sauce (make extra if you go this direction) or mashed potatoes. It is lovely with a small green salad of watercress and spring onion, too.

This recipe will provide two pieces of chicken per person. (Each breast cut in half yields two pieces.) This is quite a large serving. Most people are happy with one piece of chicken, or half a breast. However, this chicken is excellent the next day as a sandwich or sliced and put over a salad, so it’s not bad to have leftovers.