Thursday, June 11, 2009

Piccata and Peas, If You Please


I've done a post about Piccata before. It's found here. But, there can never be enough Piccata love in the world. Seriously. And this time, I did a different recipe (my own) and I've paired it with...Sherried Peas with Mushrooms! An absolute favorite of mine!



First the Peas. Can I tell you enough how much I love peas? Well, probably not. So you'll just have to take my word for it. Can I tell you how wonderful and easy these peas are? Well, I could. Should just try them for yourself? Yes. Now? Right now! Or soon.

This pea recipe is one that I discovered in the Junior League of Nashville cookbook, Encore! It has become a favorite. A serious favorite. I'm giving you the recipe as it appears in the book. For the purposes of tonight and just two of us, I cut it down.

Sherried Peas with Mushrooms:


1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbs butter
2 10 ounce packages frozen baby peas
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbs dry sherry

In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms in the butter until tender, add marjoram, nutmeg and sherry.


Saute 2 minutes. Add the peas. Heat through. Done.

Chicken Piccata:

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 Tbs butter

2 Tbs olive oil
Juice of one lemon
& a titch of zest
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 Tbs capers, rinsed
4 Tbs dry white wine

Dump some flour in a zip-lock bag. Add the salt and pepper. Shake. Toss in the chicken, seal the bag and shake again until the chicken is well coated with flour.

In a large skillet over medium/high heat, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.

De-glaze the pan by adding the lemon juice/zest, stock, capers and wine to the skillet, bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk.


Pour sauce over chicken and serve.


Piccata? Peas? Yes, please!

Paula

6 comments:

maura said...

Ah, piccata. It's one of the greats, isn't it? So good, so flexible. If you don't have the time or the ingredients for chicken piccata, you can use the sauce for pasta.

I love the addition of marjoram and nutmeg. I'm totally going to do that.

The Saucy Southerner said...

Maura...it is! Now if I had only spelled it correctly! ;) I've made corrections. I'm blaming the wine. :D

Those peas are fantastic. And you're right, the marjoram and nutmeg make them!

maura said...

I'm never sure if I've spelled it correctly. I just wing it. And blame the wine :)

I've hated peas most of my life, but have been using them lately as filler for stir fries and soup, and they're growing on me. I get locally grown peas that are frozen on site at our neighborhood grocery store. You can't beat that with a stick.

The Saucy Southerner said...

Maura, peas are like candy to me. I love them so!

Still, it's really hard for me to find fresh ones. I generally use frozen peas too (although not that fresh frozen! yay! for you).

What I would never dream of using in a million years, or even if they were the last peas in the world, are canned ones. They are just mush to me.

Melissa said...

Now, I love the piccata (capers I'm still ehh on, but the other flavors YES!) but this is a great example of wanting the side more than the main for me. Those peas sound delicious.

The Saucy Southerner said...

Melissa, those peas are delicious! I bet I've been making them for 20 years now (*GASP*).

They have become a holiday favorite of ours..gotta have the peas.