Douglass Williams’ Chicken Piccata

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When life gives you lemons, make Douglass Williams Chicken Piccata. Recently named Food & Wine’s top 10 Best New Chefs, Williams is the chef-owner of MIDA and, luckily for home cooks, he’s also just shared his recipe for the aforementioned Italian classic. The best thing about this lemony, just-a-smidge-salty, chicken dish is that it’s actually quite simple to make. So if you’re going to try any of the sleek South End spot’s Italian-influenced offerings in your kitchen, this is the place to start. Plus, Chicken Piccata has a flavor-guarantee; whether you’ve never cooked before or you’re a seasoned pro like Williams himself, this dish will serve up some serious *chef’s kiss*. Trust. 

Details

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 12 chicken tenders (about 2-3 lbs)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 4 large eggs, beaten + 1 tbsp water
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 quart low-sodium chicken stock
  • 2 lemons, one roughly chopped and one lemon for finishing, zest and juice separately
  • 1/2 stick butter, cubed
  • 1/4 cup capers, rinsed and chopped
  • 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped, including stem and leaves
  • 1 cup white wine
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Set up your breading station with flour and eggs in separate bowls, with a large baking sheet at the end for receiving the chicken. Lightly season the chicken tenders with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Two tenders at a time, dust with flour, shaking excess off then dredge in egg mixture. Coat well and place on a baking sheet. Continue until all chicken is done.
  2. Pour vegetable oil in a pan and turn to medium/high heat for browning chicken, place coated tenders into a pan for 1 minute on each side, until golden brown. They do not need to be cooked through, this will happen during the finishing process in the sauce. Once all chicken is browned, place it to the side on a clean baking sheet or plate.
  3. For the sauce, in the same pan in which you cooked the chicken, drain out the excess oil, keeping just enough to saute the garlic and capers. Place garlic and capers in the pan and saute on medium heat until aromatic. Add the first chopped lemon and cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring.
  4. Take the pan off heat and add white wine and then return to heat. Let it cook down by half and then add chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then add your browned chicken tenders, being careful not to break the coating of the chicken.
  5. Add butter and gently cook down by half over medium heat. At that point, sauce should be silky, luscious and most importantly homogeneous.
  6. Turn off the heat, add chopped parsley, juice and zest of the second lemon and add salt and pepper to adjust seasoning. Voila.
  7. Serve over cooked egg noodles, pasta or rice of your choice.

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