This method of cooking chicken breast is sure to become a favourite, said Ed Smith: it’s speedy, self-saucing and – perhaps surprisingly – succulent. Although sage is not typically involved in a piccata, I like the way it imparts its flavours into the cooking fats, and subsequently the pounded, dredged chicken. Typically, I’ll serve sautéed spinach and mashed potatoes with this. But it’s great with a lot of combinations of potato, green vegetable, leaves and/or bouncy bread for soaking up juices.
Ingredients
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 12 sage leaves
- 2 tbsp baby capers nonpareilles
- 100ml chicken stock or water or white wine
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 large skinless chicken breasts (370g-425g)
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2-3 tbsp neutral oil
- 40g butter, cubed
- flaky sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Method
- Before you start preparing and cooking the chicken, make sure any sides you plan to serve alongside are in hand. Dice and slice the shallot and garlic, pick the sage leaves, locate your capers and stock, and zest and juice the lemon.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts. Hold them flat on a board with one hand and use a sharp, long knife to cut them in half horizontally. Cut each breast in two and use a rolling pin or meat tenderiser to bash the thicker parts so it’s an even 1cm thick all over. Season all sides of the chicken very generously with salt and pepper.
- Spread the flour over a plate, then dredge the chicken pieces in it, dusting off any excess.
- Set a heavy-based skillet or frying pan over a medium-high heat. It probably won’t be big enough to hold all the chicken at once, so cook it in two batches. Add the oil, half of the butter and half of the sage leaves. Once the butter has melted and begins to foam, push the sage leaves to sizzle on one side and begin to fry the chicken for 1 1⁄2 minutes per side, plus another 30-60 seconds for luck. It really doesn’t take longer than 4 minutes in total. Transfer the chicken and sage leaves to a warm plate and repeat.
- Once the chicken is resting and the sage leaves are out, add the shallots to the fat that remains in the pan. Fry for 45 seconds, stirring occasionally, then add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for a minute more. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer energetically for 2 minutes to deglaze the pan and reduce the liquid by a third. Whisk in the remaining butter, then add the capers and lemon juice. Pour over the chicken breasts and serve.
Taken from “Peckish: An Inspirational Collection of Winning Chicken Dinners” by Ed Smith
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