The Attack of the Rubber Chicken! ~ Part Two

As you know from Part One...I am attempting to make one chicken stretch to the breaking point! Three meals, chicken stock, and a snack...from one chicken.  I have already made the stock and snack (see Part One), and now it's on to the second part of the challenge...the meals. Here's how I turned one chicken breast into dinner for two.  Impossible, you say? Well, buckle your seat belts.....here we go!  This recipe is from an Episode of $40 Dollars a Day, with Rachael Ray. The restaurant that makes it is in Palm Springs, California, and if you'd like to duplicate it, go here. First, I line my cutting board with plastic wrap...raw poultry, dontcha know...and slice that chicken breast in half lengthwise, like so..

You will then have two fairly decent size pieces, like this...

But....they are not quite there yet.  Cover them with the plastic wrap, and take your meat mallet, or a heavy skillet, and starting from the center, bash them until thinner and larger...they will look like this:

Then, dredge them in some seasoned flour...

Then, assemble your ingredients for the piccata...

Clockwise from the bottom we have; capers and butter, lemon juice, clarified butter (just melt butter over low heat, and skim off the milk solids from the top) sun-dried tomatoes (sitting in hot water to reconstitute), and chicken stock from our famously stretchable chicken.  Not shown...two tablespoons of white wine. Brown the chicken cutlets in your skillet in the clarified butter...I like a non-stick one for this recipe.

Set them aside while you build the sauce with the white wine, capers, sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice and chicken stock, and bring it to a decent bubble to reduce..

Here it is after reducing and concentrating the sauce..

Then, whisk in the remaining tablespoons of butter. This gives the sauce a little more body, and a silky, creamy texture...

While the chicken was keeping warm in the oven, and my sauce was reducing I pulled these from the fridge...I had prepared our appetizers earlier in the day..

The reason we love this particular shrimp cocktail so much, is something you cannot readily see. When I mixed the ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice to make cocktail sauce, I added a little something that we had in a restaurant in Alaska. It's simply finely chopped celery! A little touch, that makes a nice and crunchy difference. On to the meal...I made my "Bowling Banquet Green Beans" (and yes, I will give you that recipe soon), and some lovely orzo tossed with butter and parsley. Well, how has the first meal from our rubber chicken gone?  Take a peek....

It was delicious. I'm not a big chicken breast fan, as I prefer the darker, more flavorful thigh...but if I must use them, this is the dish! This is what I made for dessert on this first "Rubber Chicken" meal...

Ahhhh..chocolate and strawberries...a match made in heaven!

What meal went perfectly for you...from appetizer to dessert? Is it something you can do ahead of time? I'm interested in your "show off" suppers, so tell me!

Now, I know all you cooks out there in Pixie-Land have been keeping count, and you know that I have two drumsticks, two thighs, and one breast left from the birdy that gave it's all for us....stay tuned, because I have two more suppers to create from that one chicken! Oh, and Kitchen Angel has been up to something...so we'll have to check in with her.

Eat well my friends, Happy Springtime! Love and kindness to all,


                                                                           Pixie