She liked it, she liked it!

Maybe it was eating a lot of chicken (fried that is,)growing up, or maybe it is the way I cook it, but in the past 5 to 10 years, chicken has just been something I don't care to eat. Well, okay, maybe an occasional quesadilla or something where it is disquised enough by other flavors, but I certainly don't go in search of it. It is usually dry, tasteless and sometimes even stringy. So, when Scott wanted to do chicken one night, I was at a loss. The only other chicken dish that I've made in the past couple years and really enjoyed was Chicken Scallopini with Morels and Spring Vegetables, and that was too time consuming for this busy weeknight. So, I said to him, "if you want chicken, you have to come up with something we can do with it." Well, maybe I should do that more often! He went to the pantry and picked out an old Cooking Light Annual cookbook. After looking through the index, he exclaimed he found the perfect recipe for us. I was curious to see what he had picked out.
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I know, the suspense is killing you...

Miso Chicken Picatta

I was less than thrilled. Again, I just can't get excited about anything chicken. But, also I am not a big fan of lemon in warm savory foods. That said, I liked that I didn't have to make the decisions and gave in to try it. We got to work on a little wine and a little cooking. We followed the recipe almost exactly -the only change being to add a few sliced mushrooms and a little bit of fresh chives.

 

(adapted from Cooking Light)

3/4 cup fat free chicken broth, divided
3 Tbsp. yellow miso (I used white)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 garlic clove (I used scallion)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers, drained
1/8 tsp ground pepper
optional - 1/4 cup sliced white button mushrooms

Combine 1/4 cup broth and miso, stirring well with a whisk until miso dissolves. Stir in 1/2 cup broth and set aside.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/3 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place flour in shallow dish; dredge chicken in flour.

Heat oil in a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Add wine to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat to medium and stir in miso mixture and garlic. Return chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until done. Remove from heat; stir in juice, capers, and pepper. Serve over hot pasta or rice and top with parsley or chives.

The verdict...(again, I know the. suspense. is. killing. you,) this was a delicious dish. The combination of the wine, lemon, and capers was a winner. This was an easy weeknight meal, that could easily be served as a "company dish" over a nice pasta or rice. We served over simple angel hair.

For wine, we finished the bottle of Tuscan Moon Pinot Grigio that we used for the dish. I was quite surprised by this wine. I originally bought it because it was an inexpensive white, that I could use in cooking. But, when we opened it Tuesday evening to put in the chicken, I snuck a taste. You know...cooking with wine! It had a nice light taste with hints of mineral and citrus. Not in your face, but subtle and it paired completely perfectly with the dish.

Both the wine and the recipe will be keepers for us.