Chicken Piccata with Capers

 If you like capers, keep reading...........if not, stop now! This dish is really good served over couscous cause the sauce is YUM!

Chicken Piccata with Fried Capers

(Makes 2-3 servings, but could easily be doubled. Recipe adapted slightly from Fine Cooking Annual.)

2  very large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T nonpareil capers
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to season chicken
1 clove crushed chopped garlic
1/2 cup low sodium  chicken stock
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 t honey
1 T butter, cut up
1 T chopped fresh parsley

Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts. Cut each one in half to make two pieces about the same size. One at a time, put pieces inside a heavy ziploc bag and pound chicken to make it an even 1/2 inch thick. Season chicken with a small amount of salt and pepper.  Chop parsley and set aside.

Rinse the capers and pat dry with paper towels. In a 10-inch nonstick frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add capers and fry until they open slightly and crisp a little, took 60-90 seconds for me. Remove pan from heat and use a spoon to transfer capers to paper towel, letting the oil drip back into pan.

Get oil hot again, then saute chicken on top side until nicely browned, about 3-4 minutes. Turn over and cook on other side until chicken is done, probably only 1-2 minutes on the second side. Arrange chicken on serving dish with browned side facing up. (You can cover them to keep warm if you want, but I didn't and they were fine.)

While chicken browns, measure out chicken stock, garlic, butter, and lemon juice so they are ready. Add garlic to hot pan and saute 15-30 seconds. Add chicken stock, and scrape pan to dissolve browned bits. Cook until stock is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and honey, then turn off heat and add butter, stirring until butter is melted. Add half of capers and parsley to sauce, then pour sauce over chicken, garnishing with remaining capers.