Presenting: Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

For those of you unfamiliar with my earlier work, I started a series called Presenting: where I attempt to improve my photography and/or plating.

Inspiration Behind the Dish

On Sunday of Food and Wine Conference, I spent a huge portion of that day attending workshops to improve presentation of my food. One of the sessions I attended was Every Picture Tells A Story by Denise Vivaldo of Denise Vivaldo Group. If you're unfamiliar with her, she's absolutely fantastic. It was fun to hear her reminisce about being on the sets of big name TV shows of the 1980s and 1990s working behind the scenes as a culinary producer. The seminar wasn't entirely a trip down memory lane. She gave some great advice too.

Dish Details

One of the tips I picked up during her workshop was to purchase a mobile photography studio so once I got home from Orlando, I went on Amazon and I did. I'm not presenting anything new because I've already published Chef Fabio Viviani's version of this dish. I'm using the dish solely as a prop to practice my photography. I pretty much stuck to Giada's recipe found on foodnetwork.com, so I respectfully request to go there for it in its entirety.

Final Thoughts

The picture needed very little editing. I used my smartphone on auto settings. The only thing I really did was add my logo and cropped the picture of some negative space. I welcome constructive criticism so please comment with it.

Sole Meunière

Sole Meunière

I had a taste of summer in the last week locally with the weather getting warmer. It's been a struggle for me this year because I miss my grill. I do have a grill pan but it's not the same because, while I can still prepare grilled food, I can't cook in hot weather without heating up the kitchen. Sure there's dishes I can prepare such as ceviche and Vichyssoise but both you and I would get pretty bored quickly.

One way I've been able to beat the heat is to prepare lighter dishes. In reading Manuela of Manu's Menu post of a sole meunière dish recently, I was reminded of seeing the dish in Chef Bastianich's cookbook.

The Challenge

Prepare a dish that will soften the blow of not having a grill at my disposal.

The Source

Pages 132-134 of Lidia's Favorite Recipes by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. I had to paraphrase Chef's Bastianich method because I find her style too wordy.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
6 fillets gray or lemon sole (approximately 2 1/2 pounds)
All-purpose flour
5 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
12 slices lemon, thinmy sliced (approximately 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock or water chicken stock
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsly, chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250° Fahrenheit. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the fillets in the flour and sear them in the oil, in batches if necessary, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second side. Remove them from the pan and place them on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

2. Remove the oil from the pan and melt add the remaining butter and oilve oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and lemon slices and cook until lightly browned. Add the capers to heat through, about 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and wine and bring to a boil, then reduce by half. Add the stock, return to a boil until the sauce is lightly thickened, about 2 minutes, then season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. To plate, spoon the sauce over the fillets, then garnih with lemon slices and parsley.

Successful?

If I were to prepare this dish again, I'd season the fillets with salt and pepper. Overall, it was still pretty tasty, however I still haven't filled the void. I also couldn't help but notice the similarities of this dish with the piccata di pollo.

In unrelated news, have you seen the first episode of the new season of Next Food Network Star? I almost consider this show more difficult than others such as Top Chef because the contestants need to have a marketable point-of-view, be likable, and able to communicate it to an audience in addition to culinary expertise. It is for this reason that I think Nikki is the early favorite to win, since she has experience in both. Who do I want to win? Not sure yet. Need to see more.

Light Stunt: Piccata di Pollo plus a Giveaway!

Piccata di Pollo

It's funny how things come together sometimes.

One recent evening I happened to be on twitter when I saw a tweet from Chef Fabio Viviani that read something like "Come get a signed copy of my new cookbook" but what caught my attention was the location was only about a 30 minute drive from home. So after getting the expense authorized by the CFS Finance Department (i.e. Mrs. Stuntman), I will be giving away a copy of Fabio's Italian Kitchen by Fabio Viviani with Melanie Rehak autographed by Fabio Viviani. Details are below.

I've only recently become a fan. I started watching Top Chef in season 7, so I missed his initial appearance in season 5 but caught him in season 8. Apparently the man has many female fans due to his good looks, but I'm a heterosexual male and I've always said I wouldn't know a good looking man if one came up and slapped me along side my head.

It's okay because I've found other reasons to admire the man. I've watched his web show Chow Ciao! with some interest because I profile a lot of Italian dishes here but what really impressed me was his temperament on the first season's sixth episode of Life After Top Chef. Chef Viviani catered a charity dinner but his sous chef got to the site two hours late with the food. Chef Viviani kept his cool and his guests didn't know his world was falling apart behind the scenes. Honestly, I don't think I would have acted in a similar manner.

I also picked up a copy for myself, and while thumbing through it on my way home, found this recipe that utilized the boneless skinless chicken breasts I had sitting in the refrigerator.

The Challenge

This dish is essentially a seared protein with a pan sauce which makes it perfect for a weeknight meal, so I have categorized it as a Light Stunt. Chef Viviani pairs it with radicchio Treviso, but I decided to take the dish in a different direction.

The Source

Page 178

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise.
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoons capers, drained or rinsed if salted
1 lemon, sliced into 1/6-inch rounds
Cooked pasta of your choice

Method

1. Pound each chicken piece between two sheets of plastic wrap to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Then season on both sides with the salt, pepper and paprika.

2. Place 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until browned on both sides.

3. Add the lemon juice, chicken stock, capers, the remaining butter, and lemon slices to the pan and reduce until the sauce thickens.

Giveaway Details

I am giving away 1 copy of Fabio's Italian Kitchen by Fabio Viviani with Melanie Rehak autographed by Fabio Viviani. The contest will end on May 17, 2013 at 12:00 Pacific Standard Time. Good Luck!

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