Piccata Pan Sauce
Piccata is a bright and salty pan sauce usually served over chicken cutlets, but it works over any protein.
The following amounts will make enough sauce to cover 2-4 cutlets of protein (1-2 servings).
By Keith McBrayerThe recipe breakdown originally appeared in The Mouthful, our weekly food newsletter for the curious home cook.
Keith McBrayer
Ingredients
Roux base
- floura spoonful
- cooking oil15 ga spoonful
Acidic elements
- white wine120 ga heavy splash
- lemon juice15 ga spoonful
- capers30 g2 spoonfuls
Aromatics
- garlic, thinly sliced1-3 cloves
- lemon zesta pinch
- black peppera sprinkle
Final adjusters
- butter, cubed45 ga few knobs
- parsley, choppeda handful
- saltto taste
Method
Step 1: Start the roux & aromatic base
Add the cooking oil to a pan over medium-low heat. Add flour and garlic, and toast over medium heat until fragrant but no color develops. Add in the black pepper & lemon zest to their flavor.
Step 2: Deglaze with the acidic elements
Before the garlic or flour browns, with white wine. The sauce should simmer immediately and begin to up from the flour base.
Add the capers & lemon juice. If the sauce is already thick at this point, add a bit more wine (or water) to thin it out to a fairly loose consistency (the butter will thicken it back up to a glaze in the next step).
Step 3: Adjust sauce & serve
Turn off the heat. Stir in one cube of cold butter at a time to into the sauce and thicken it into a loose glaze. Stir in chopped herbs, and adjust with salt as needed.
Serve immediately over a cooked protein of choice.
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