Cooking over eating out...Dish #1 Chicken Piccata

After years of cooking for one, I now cook for two. It took a good 3 years before my fiancé and I actually started eating in and making our own meals. When we first started dating both of our eating routines consisted of eating out. No matter the size of the meal we would go out or order in. Not sure when or why we changed our routine, however, I have enjoyed every minute of it.


My old boss use to call herself a pantry chef because she made meals based on ingredients in her kitchen not by following recipes. I have taken on a similar style of cooking. When I go out to eat I pay close attention to what ingredients are in my favorite plates. I also read recipes as if they were a news article. By doing the two I have become familiar with the basic idea of different recipes and cook from memory. If I try to follow instructions it's a given I'll burn or destroy the meal.

Because of my new hobby, I am going to share my weekly finds and cooking experiences.

Dish #1
Chicken Piccata

Last night I made chicken piccata for 7. I was so worried because I was running late and making a large portion; not to mention it was my first attempt. To my surprise it was a huge hit and rather easy to make. The dish was simple and can be duplicated by anyone. You can make Piccata with Chicken or Fish. Sides can be mashed potatoes, noodles or rice. Be sure to always include a vegetable too, we selected asparagus, however, any green will be great. Read through my notes, modify to your liking and cooking piccata from memory will be a hit.


Ingredients (serving 2 people):

• Chicken Breast or Fish - 2 - 3 pieces
• Olive Oil - enough to coat the bottom of pan
• Butter - enough to coat the bottom of pan
• Flour - 1/2 cup at most
• Pepper - use for flavor to your liking. I used a healthy poriton, roughly a table spoon
• Onion Powder - use for flavor to your liking. I sprinkled for taste, start slow you can always add more
• Garlic Powder - use for flavor to your liking. I sprinkled for taste, start slow you can always add more
• White Wine - 1/3 cup 
• Chicken Stock - 1/3 cup
• Artichokes - use as many as you'd like. I used a full can.
• Mushrooms - add as many as you'd like. I used about 1/2 cup
• Capers - add as many as you'd like. I used about 1/2 cup
• Parsley - sprinkle for flavor
• Lemons - 5 lemons to freshly squeeze juice. I also used to garnish dish.

Steps:
1. First in a medium size bowl mix flour and pepper.
2. Rinse each chicken breast under water and dip in the flower and pepper mix. The chicken should be lightly coated.
3. Cover the bottom of a medium size skillet with a small portion of butter and / or olive oil. Give it a few minutes to heat up and then add the coated chicken / fish.
4. Let the meat cook for a few minutes on each side. Fish takes no more than a minute or two on each side. Chicken will need more time, about 5 minutes on each side.
5. Add the wine, chicken stock, fresh squeezed lemon juice, capers, artichoke and mushrooms. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic salt and onion powder. You can guestimate your measuring.
6. Let the sauce simmer on low until the chicken or fish are cooked all thoroughly.

The recipe above is not my own. I reviewed several recipes and have had piccata on numerous occassions. As mentioned above, I pay attention to the ingredients while eating the dish at restaraunts and get an idea of the steps from different websites. The websites I enjoy are noted below.

Epicurious.com

Foodnetwork.com

SimplyRecipes.com