Chicken Breast with White Wine Cream Sauce and Capers

Man, I am getting really bad about updating this blog - partially due to pure, unadulterated laziness and partially because I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading this thing. But, nonetheless, I'm back. I've been cooking up a ton of new dishes and I felt the need to share this one with you. Usually, I hate cooking chicken. Something about it just screams "bland" to me as I'm passing it by in the supermarket. Today something compelled me to overcome my prejudice and come up with something yummy.

Every so often when I'm watching Food Network or Cooking Channel, I see a recipe which includes capers. I had a vague idea of what capers were, but I had never used them. Apparently, they're used regularly in Southern Italian and Greek cuisine. Capers, as we know them, are actually the buds of the "Capparis spinosa" plant (or "caper bush"). They're often pickled and tend to taste rather salty and tangy. I figured I'd head on down to Trader Joe's and pick some up to see for myself.

After systematically scouring the entire store, isle by isle, I finally found my capers. Next to nuts and legumes. What kind of sense does that make?! But I digress...

Next, I had to think of a good way to incorporate these lovely little buds into a dish. As I was pondering, I thought of a dish I'd enjoyed a while back in a French Continental restaurant near Old Fair Oaks -- a marinated chicken breast with a gorgeous white wine sauce. Having never made a white wine sauce, I decided to give that a shot as well and throw some capers into it for good measure. I've seen a lot of watery-looking white wine sauces/reductions, so I decided to toss in some heavy cream toward the end to thicken it up and lighten the color. Here's that I came up with...

Floured up and ready to go!

Ingredients

• Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used free-range organic)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, enough to cover the base of your saute pan 1/4" thick
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 tablespoons capers, drained
• Several large sprigs of rosemary

Method

• Combine flour, salt and pepper on a medium sized plate. Coat all sides of each chicken breast, then shake off excess.

Sizzling away...

** Optional:  You could, if so inclined, marinate the chicken overnight in something which would compliment the sauce's flavor profile. I'd recommend making it this way to start off, then branch out once you've tasted it. 

• Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.
• Add chicken and brown 4-5 minutes per side. Then remove, place on sheet tray, and add to 300 degree oven. Bake until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. (Food safety first here, people!)    Meanwhile...
• Add white wine (slowly!) into the hot saute pan to deglaze (pulls up those little, brown flavorful bits). Add lemon juice and one whole sprig of rosemary into the liquid. Increase to high heat, then allow to reduce by about half. 

Reducing...

• Add the butter, stirring until fully incorporated (to avoid it separating). 
• Reduce heat to medium, then add capers, continuing to stir quite regularly. After about 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low/simmer and add cream. Remove the rosemary sprig and discard. 
• Stir often, allowing mixture to reduce until desired consistency is reached. Allow sauce to cool for about 3-5 minutes. 
• Plate the chicken, then spoon sauce over the breast. Garnish with small rosemary sprig and lemon zest.
• Serve and devour.

Hope you enjoy! It's actually a lot simpler to make than it sounds. Trust me on this one, it's worth it.