Lemon Chicken

This is one of my favorites. I used to ask my mom to make it for me on my birthday and she never failed to fulfill a food request. Especially a birthday one.

Now I live on my own and I have to make it for myself. So you can too!

This dish is really easy and a crowd pleaser.

You will need: 1 lb or chicken breasts or tenders pounded until thin (this is the best way to release your frustrations), 2 lemons, 2 Tbsp capers, 1 cup chicken stock, 1 Tbsp butter, 1 cup flour, 1/2 to a cup of white wine, and 1 Tbsp olive oil (not pictured)

 

Melt 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.

 

While the oil is heating up, add the flour to a shallow dish.

 

And season with salt and pepper. If you wanted, you could use lemon pepper here or any extra seasoning you want, but I prefer just salt and pepper. Combine flour and seasoning with a fork.

Now dredge both sides of your flattened chicken in the flour.

And place it in the frying pan. See the bubbles around the chicken? That's what you want. Otherwise, you get soggy chicken. Ew.

Keep adding chicken to your pan until full. You won't be able to fit all of it in there at once. You'll have to do at least two batches, depending on the size of your pan.

If your pan starts to look a little dry, add more butter.

When in doubt, add more butter. This is a general life philosophy for me.

When you get about a quarter inch border of white around your chicken, it's time to flip them. This shouldn't take more than 5 minutes since we pounded the chicken so thinly.

Now cook on the other side until golden. Have a paper towel lined plate ready to go when they're finished.

Also, I should apologize for how messy my stove is, but I can't. Messy cooking is good cooking. However, I promise that I wipe down my stove after a mess like this. I really do.

Remove the cooked chicken to the plate...

And start your next batch!

Now get those out of then pan and onto the plate and let's start our sauce!

Now pour in the wine! I love any sauce made with wine. It's just plain tasty. Scrape all the bits of chicken and flour off of the bottom of the pan. Also known as deglazing the pan.

 

Keep scraping and the sauce will bubble up and thicken from the four that fell off of the chicken.

After the wine has reduced by about half, add in one cup of chicken stock. Keep the chicken stock near you so you can add more if the sauce gets too thick.

Now use the heel of your hand to roll the lemons on your counter. This makes the lemon easier to juice later.

If you don't have the upper body strength of a 2 year old, you can probably just use one hand to do this. I do not fall into that category so I use two.

Now slice the lemons in half. Ignore the turnips on my cutting board. More on those later.

Next squeeze all the juice out of both lemons into the sauce. If you are offended by seeds, you might want to squeeze them through a strainer first. Or just use your other hand as a strainer.

Now let that simmer for a few minutes.

 

Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

And add in two tablespoons of capers, drained. If you're a caper fanatic like me, add in more! I love those suckers.

Caper fun fact: A caper is a flower bud. In case you wanted to know.

Now tell your health conscious roommates to look away and add in another tablespoon of butter. This makes the sauce really silky and delightful.

Place two pieces of chicken on a plate and spoon a good amount of sauce over it. Mmm...

In case you're wondering what that other mess next to the chicken is, I've had a serious curiosity for root vegetables lately. This recipe is Turnip Gratin by The Pioneer Woman. I love the Pioneer Woman. So much. Turns out, I also love turnip gratin. If you're gonna try a vegetable, try it layered with cream and cheese. You can't go wrong!

Enjoy this recipe guys!

P.s. GIANT shout out to my roommate Amy for taking the pictures for this post!

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken tenderloins, pounded thin
• 2 Tbsp butter, plus more for a dry pan
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 lemons
• 2 Tbsp capers
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp butter and olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken and fry in the pan in batches, adding butter if the pan gets too dry.
2. Remove chicken to a paper towel lined plate. Pour wine into the pan and scrape the chicken bits off of the bottom. Allow to reduce by half and then pour in the chicken stock. While the sauce is simmering, half and juice both lemons.
3. Add the lemon juice, capers, and salt and pepper, to taste, to the sauce and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
4. Serve chicken with the sauce poured all over the top.