Chicken Piccata with Polenta Recipes

I’m sorry I haven’t written since Thursday! I meant to post a menu plan yesterday for Menu Plan Monday, but I’ve been under the weather lately, and just wasn’t up to spending much time at my computer yesterday.

I also haven’t felt up to grocery shopping, so yesterday was “make due with whatever is in the fridge and freezer” day. It’s a nice thing to have a decently stocked kitchen, and although I find myself wishing I’d done some batch cooking recently, I was pretty happy with last night’s dinner: Chicken Piccata with creamy polenta.

Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata with creamy polenta

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Juice of 2 small lemons
2 tablespoons capers
3/4 cup chicken broth or dry white wine

Heat 1 tablespoon each oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

Pound the chicken very thin or cut into cutlets. Sprinkle each piece with salt and pepper. Put the flour on a plate or in a pie pan and dredge the chicken on both sides with the flour. Put half of the chicken pieces in the skillet. When browned on one side, about 2½ to 3 minutes, turn the pieces and brown on the other side. If you pounded or cut your chicken thin enough, it should be cooked through at this point. Put it on a plate in the oven turned to very low, or on a plate covered in aluminum foil.

Wipe out the skillet and heat the rest of the butter and oil. Dredge and cook the remaining chicken and add it to the plate. Without wiping the pan, add the lemon juice and pull up the tasty bits from the pan. Add the capers and the wine or broth, and let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until thickened slightly.

Top the chicken breasts with the sauce.

Creamy Polenta

3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup mozzerella
1 tablespoon butter

In a heavy saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and then slowly add the polenta, stirring the whole time to avoid lumps. Once it’s all added, turn the heat to low and keep stirring until the boil has reduced to a simmer. Put a lid on the pot and simmer for 40-50 minutes, stirring every few minutes. You may need to add water occasionally – add HOT water, just a bit at a time. I keep an electric kettle next to the stove when I’m making polenta, so I have very hot water ready to go.

When it’s thick and creamy and soft, grate the cheeses and add them to the polenta, along with the butter. Stir well and serve sprinkled with more parmesan.

We’ve got some leftover polenta, and I plan on frying that up in butter tomorrow to serve with fried eggs for breakfast. Mmmmm…