A Happier Meal - Chicken Piccata Nuggets

Chicken Nuggets from McDonald’s were a staple when my kids were young - a special reward for a good report card or something similar.

But then food journalist Michael Pollan said, “Perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to “help preserve freshness.” According to A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause “nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse.” Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill.”

Apologies to my children for  treating them with a chemical-filled piece of “chicken” that was actually over 50% corn by-products.

But as Maya Angelou said, “Do as well as you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

So let’s do better and make a better nugget. For snacking or a meal. Enter: the Piccata Nugget. Same spirit. Better shoes.

Serve them however you like, piled high on a plate, or next to something simple like jasmine rice or a handful of arugula. No dipping sauce required. The sauce is the point.

They’re still nuggets. You can still eat them with your fingers if no one’s watching.

But these… these have a little zip. A little brightness. A sense of occasion, even on a Tuesday.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 lb chicken breasts (cut into bite sized pieces)

4.5 TBSP of butter

4-5 tsp minced garlic

1 1/4 cups Rombauer Chardonnay (my personal favorite for this recipe!)

4-5 Tbsp lemon juice

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

3/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup capers

METHOD

Pat chicken breasts dry and then cut them into bite sized pieces.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together the flour, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Coat your chicken pieces thoroughly in this. You will most likely have to do this in batches.

Add 3 1/2 TBSP of butter to pan over medium high heat. Once butter is melted and pan is hot add your chicken.

Cook each side of the chicken until it has browned. You might need to add additional butter as you go. Once chicken has browned on both sides, remove from pan and set aside on a plate. It’s good to leave some brown bits in the pan for the next step.

Lower your heat to medium and add 1 TBSP of butter to the pan you fried the chicken in. Add the minced garlic and cook for 15 seconds, stir continuously. Now add the wine to the pan. Cook the wine down for approximately 5 minutes and only a small amount of the liquid remains. Make sure you regularly stir when reducing the liquid.

Add lemon juice, heavy cream, and chicken broth to pan with the wine while stirring and bring to a simmer.

Next you want to grab a whisk and add 1/2 TBSP of flour to a separate small bowl. Add about 1/4 of a cup of the sauce that is in the pan into the small bowl with the flour and whisk together.

You do this to create a roux to help prevent clumping. Add this back into the pan and whisk until it has incorporated.

After your roux has been whisked into the sauce, add the capers and very gently and safely add browned chicken back into the pan making sure to include any juices and bits that might be stuck to the plate. Let everything simmer together for 10 minutes. Stir during this time to coat your chicken with the sauce.

When the 10 minutes is finished. Remove from heat and serve over your favorite bottom.