Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Chicken Saltimboca with Lemon Butter Caper Sauce

Oh. My. Gosh.  I CANNOT believe I haven't given y'all this recipe before.  The lemon butter caper sauce itself is... just... oh, I would marry myself just to get it.  I got this recipe at a community ed cooking class with Chef Jeff, and I cannot overstate how awesome his classes are.  They might start a tad slow, and you might not eat until 9:30pm, but oh, the food, and OH, the RECIPES!!!  YUM!!!!!!!!

Caper Butter Sauce 
(Makes about 3/4 cup of sauce) [I strongly recommend doing 1 1/2 recipes of this 'cuz it's so good!!!]

1/2 c. Chablis [or other dry white wine- I've even subbed in a mix of cooking sherry & sake]
1-2 Tbl chopped [or smushed in the pan] capers
1 Tbl. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 lb. [1 stick] unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces

  1. In a fairly big sauce pan, combine wine, capers & lemon juice; reduce to 1-2 Tbl.
  2. Add cream; reduce by half and remove from heat.
  3. Add butter, whipping [stirring] immediately and constantly.  You may need to place sauce back over VERY low heat (in short intervals) to incorporate all the butter.  Be very careful not to let this sauce get too hot (just warm to the touch) or it will separate.  [If you must wait and keep it warm, use a double-boiler or bowl-over-water.]
 Chicken Saltimboca
(makes 2 servings) [but you might as well make 4 'cuz hello!  Too much work otherwise!]
2 six-oz. good quality chicken breasts
2 pieces [or a bit more] thinly sliced prosciutto
2 Tbl. chopped fresh sage
2/3 c. quartered artichokes (canned or frozen)
3 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 c. flour
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 c. lemon caper butter sauce [see above for awesomeness]

  1. Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and fresh sage (go easy on the salt [or eliminate] as the proscuitto ham and capers are naturally salty); place proscuitto ham on top of each chicken breast.  Using a meat tenderizer [or marble rolling pin!], carefully pound the ham into the chicken until each piece is uniform in thickness (approximately 1/2 inch).
  2. Place a 10-inch saute pan over high heat.  When hot, add 1 Tbl. olive oil; lightly dust the chicken in flour; place in the pan prosciutto side down and reduce the heat to medium; saute the chicken 3-4 minutes per side or until golden in color and cooked completely through.
  3. Transfer chicken to a warm serving plate; heat the artichokes in the same pan and scatter over chicken breasts; top with butter sauce and serve.

2 comments:

Ms. Huis Herself said...

Ok, y'all, my friend here in town just called me to thank me - 'cuz THIS recipe was the best thing she'd eaten so far in 2012. I'm telling you, pick a day when you've got the time, and make this!

Cherri said...

Great stuff here. 1st time poster, but long time reader --- keep up the good work!