It Was A Beautiful Spring Day Today!

So today, Jim hired a guy to pressure wash our pool deck and the pavers on our patio…I was admiring the patio and planning to head to the Summit to shop for the wedding next week in Charelston and then, it hit me…the sun is shining so bright, the shop is closed thanks to Spring Break and you, my friend have a date with the pool guy!

 ( that would be my sweet husband!)  

So much to do, though. 

 Easter weekend is almost here and all of my kids will be in town. 

So much to do. And so little time! Oh well, just had to sit still and enjoy an hour with Jim and the beautiful sunshine until time to get back to reality!

Hence the reason for a very quick chicken dinner! I had been thinking about that wonderful Chicken Picatta that we had enjoyed last week at Bottega Cafe so this is what I came up with. 

Try this when you don't know what else to do with your chicken…I promise, you will love it!

Light and yet so flavorful!

The chicken along with the asparagus makes for a meal in itself when served over Toasted Almond Couscous. But the thing I think that makes it extra good is the Lemon Fused Olive Oil from our believed OLIO right around the corner from my shop! 

Please try it! It has revolutionized some of my cooking experiences!

 Carolyn's Chicken Picatta

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T Lemon fused olive oil ( or evoo if that's all you have) 

1/2 Cup flour

kosher salt and pepper to taste

1 T more olive oil

1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 Cup chicken broth

1/2-3/4 Cup white wine or vermouth

1-2 Tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

1/2 lb. aspragus spears, blanched and cut in pieces

Dip chicken pieces lightly in the seasoned flour. Heat olive oil in a skillet and brown chicken on both sides. Place in a baking dish. Add the rest of the olive oil and garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Add chicken broth and wine or vermouth. Cook for 2 minutes to reduce liquid a little. Add the capers and asparagus and pour all on top of the chicken. Bake for about 20-25 minutes on 350 degrees until done. Serve over toasted almond couscous if desired.

*if you don't have the lemon olive oil use regular olive oil and add a tablespoon or two of fresh lemon juice to add the extra flavor.

Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Piccata!

Inspired by one of my favorite food bloggers...Mary from One Perfect Bite...I set out on a mission last week to make a Chicken Piccata dish that I could make ahead! One that I could have partially done...tend to at  the last minute when I walked in the door from being at my shop all day and have my family still love it as if I had just prepared it while standing over the stovetop!!!

I do think I achieved my goal! My mother loved it so much...as well as the salad I might add!! That is really my ultimate goal...that my mother loves it since she is by far the best cook I've ever known!!! There isn't anything that she makes that we don't all love!!! For years, my friends and her friends as well.... have begged her to write her own cookbook...and she should! It would be a best-seller for sure!!!

Mary had put up a Fabulous recipe for Chicken Piccata last week which made me think on it night after night!!! I hope this version is atleast half as good as hers was!!! This version used twice as much chicken as I normally would've made because I was feeding alot of people at the time... Thankfully, I was able to re-heat the leftovers  when I needed it and use it for Miller's "snack" after practice and "before" dinner!!!

10-12 small to medium sized chicken breasts, cleaned and rinsed and patted dry.
1 C all purpose flour
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 t Italian seasoning
2 lemons, sliced thinly
mix flour with spices and add each chicken breast to coat while melting equal parts of Olive Oil and butter...( I used light)
for each 4-6 chicken breasts I melted 2-3 T butter with 2 T olive oil...and browned them in batches.....when browned on both sides place in a greased casserole dish....
when done browning the chicken....
saute 2-4 garlic cloves and 1 minced onion in remaining olive oil and/or butter scraping up browned bits from chicken
wisk in 1 C white wine and let simmer 5 minutes or until reduced somewhat....add  32 ozs. chicken broth....1/4 C lemon juice, 1 can artichoke hearts chopped plus reserved liquid... and lemon slices...let simmer until reduced a little bit....in the meantime...mix 1/4 C cornstarch with liquid from pan in a separate bowl...wisk into skillet and let simmer until mixture begins to thicken just a little...add 1/2 C capers to mixture...pour over chicken pieces in baking dish...Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes...sprinkle liberally with parmesean cheese and bake for 15 more minutes or until bubbly and browned! Serve over hot angel hair pasta nests if possible...regular angel hair pasta is fine...or linguinni! Enjoy!!!!

* when I made it this past time....I did everything....except put sauce over chicken....refrigerated it and then put the sauce on right before baking time because I was afraid of it getting soggy! However..when I re-heated it, it was just as good so I'm not sure that makes a huge difference!

COMING TOMORROW....MY MOTHER'S CANNELONI THAT SHE MADE FOR MY BIRTHDAY DINNER!!! and yes...it's THAT good!!!!!!!!!!!!