Chicken Francaise with Capers

Wow! One mouthful of this Chicken Francaise with Capers, or Francese, and your are sitting in a bistro in Paris! Why French? The incorporation of the butter and wine, of course! It reminds me of Chicken Picatta, but the difference is how the chicken is prepared. In Francaise, or Francese, food is coated with flour then an egg wash. Subsequently, it is pan fried with a sauce invoking lemon. Picatta is just floured before being pan fried. The crossover idea here was my desire to add capers to accentuate that tangy, buttery flavor. Perfection!

Being inspired by Recipe30‘s post on Facebook for the Ultimate Chicken Francaise,  we, les sous chefs deaux, took it as our evening’s cooking challenge. After some slight revisions, we agreed that this was one of those dinners that you would plate for a special occasion like a birthday, anniversary or a romantic Valentine’s Day candlelight dinner. My dilemma at the time was what to serve as a side. Serving it over fresh pasta would give it a more Italian feel. If that’s your preference, I would recommend you double the sauce. Otherwise, a creamy garlic mashed potatoes with some haricot verts would compliment this meal; simple enough to not overpower the perfection of this Chicken Francaise with Capers.

As we were working on the finishing touches, I perused the ingredients for the sauce on the counter and thought what about adding capers? Capers, those little spheres which come from a prickly shrub which grows throughout the Mediterranean, are intense in flavor. These flower buds are cured usually in a vinegar brine which will compliment a rich dish such as this. To my delight, they brought all the flavors together. It’s definitely a mouthful of perfection. Don’t leave this ingredient out!

 

Place the chicken breasts within 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound them a little flatter. I used the bottom of a heavy pan.

 

Combine the egg, parmesan and parsley mixture in a dish large enough to handle each piece of chicken.

Coat the chicken with flour after you pat it dry, then dredge it into the egg mixture followed by immediately placing it in the preheated skillet with melted butter and olive oil.

Here, the pan frying process is complete. When lightly golden on both sides, check for an internal temperature of 165 degrees. The original recipe said 4 minutes per side, but because these were a little thicker, we cooked them for about 5 minutes per side. The first two shots below were with the two butterflied chicken breasts. The third picture is with the portion-sized breasts that were shown above between the layers of plastic wrap.

After removing chicken from the pan, I added the remainder of the butter and parsley along with the garlic, chicken stock, Sauvignon Blanc(white wine),  lemon, and finally capers! Allow this to reduce about 4 minutes on medium high heat. Place the chicken back into the pan and baste with the sauce, turning once. Serve extra sauce over chicken.