Barefoot Blogging : [Faux] Chicken Piccata

It's the second Thursday of the month again meaning it is time to post my completed task for the Barefoot Bloggers. I wasn't able to join the Barefoot Bloggers last month so I was hell-bent not to miss this month's challenges.
Up for testing is Chicken Piccata. The first thing that crossed my mind was " oh wow a chicken recipe at last!!! Yummy juicy chicken!!!" Then it hit me that for the entire season of Lent, as my sacrifice, I chose to abstain from eating pork, beef, lamb and *sigh* chicken.
I still wanted to proceed with the original recipe for the piccata but with everyone at home abstaining from meat and poultry and it would be a shame to see all those wonderful ingredients (as well as the money spent to buy those ingredients) go to waste, I decided to make a faux chicken piccata instead.
I checked our freezer and found my dad's stash of creamy dory fillets which are hard to come by. I nicked two pieces and let them thaw a bit.
I then prepared and measured all the other ingredients needed and proceeded to coat the fish in seasoned flour, egg, breadcrumbs. I didn't season the fillets with salt and pepper prior to coating them because the flour was already seasoned and i used italian breadcrumbs which were quite salty already. I figured I can always add more salt and pepper later.
I fried the fillets until they were brown on both sides before transferring them to the turbo broiler were they finished cooking.
For the sauce, instead of white wine , I used half of a shrimp cube dissolved in hot water. When the butter-lemon juice- stock mixture reduced, I spooned it over the fish and topped the fish with lemon zest and parsley.
Overall, the piccata was tasty. The fillets were soft, tender and tasty thanks to the coating of flour, egg and breadcrumbs and the lemon added a clean, citrusy burst that complimented the fish. The best thing is that it was a snap to make! A flavorful dish in minutes.
Here's the original recipe for Ina's chicken piccata.

CHICKEN PICCATA
recipe courtesy of Ina Garten and Food Network

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts [ i used creamy dory fillets. you can use any white fish fillets that you have]
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1/2 tablespoon water
• 3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• Good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
• 1/2 cup dry white wine [i used stock]
  
• Sliced lemon, for serving
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Easy Sticky Buns

I was a bit apprehensive to make these sticky buns. A "bit" is an understatement. I've never used puff pastry before since it is hard to come by in my neck of the woods. I thought I'd make my own puff pastry but that would be taking the "EASY" out of "Easy Sticky Buns" as I would have to make the pastry dough by hand (no food processor). It was a good thing that my mom found a pack of puff pastry at Santis when she went to Manila.
Armed with Ina's recipe, I headed into the kitchen, cleared my 24" x 24" baking space, took out the butter from the fridge and measured brown sugar and cinnamon. When the butter was already at room temperature, I placed it in the mixing bowl along with 1/3 cup brown sugar and let the mixer do its thing while I grabbed the puff pastry from the freezer.
I carefully pried two pastry sheets from the stack then let them rest on the counter while I scooped the butter-sugar mixture onto the muffin pan. I omitted the pecans because of two reasons. First reason: my dad doesn't like nuts. Second reason: I didn't have any pecans on hand anyway. Also, I still had about 1/3 cup of the butter-sugar mixture left so I decided to do away with the extra two tablespoons of butter. Waste not, want not.
Ina's recipe says to "Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter." I stared at my two sheets of pastry. There was nothing to unfold! As in nothing. They were two thin 12"x12" squares. After a minute or two of being perplexed, I decided to go ahead with the recipe even if it meant having to do some downsizing by cutting the pastry half an inch smaller than what was called for in the recipe.
After brushing the pastry with butter and giving it a generous sprinkling of cinnamon and brown sugar, I rolled it into a log and placed it seam side down. I proceeded to do the same with the other sheet of pastry but I made a boo boo and forgot to remove the thin sheet of paper under the pastry . I had to unroll the pastry and repeat the procedure. I ended up with a very messy baking space!
I baked the buns for exactly thirty minutes and I watched as the pastry puffed up and the butter and sugar bubbled and spilled over the sides of the muffin pan. Now I know why the muffin pan must be place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
After thirty minutes of baking, I took them out of the oven and let them cool for five minutes Then I transferred them onto a lined tray and topped them with the sticky goo.

Ending up with a smaller puff pastry is a blessing in disguise after all! These sticky buns are so rich. It's a good idea to make them smaller than what was called for in the recipe. But that's my opinion. You are entitled to yours. If you love them in bigger portions, I guess that's fine too. On that note we can agree to disagree but I'm sure you're with me when I say that these are sticky, gooey, sweet and delicious.

[ i did a lousy job rolling the pastry :( ]

P.S.
My dad loved them. He ate four sticky buns which is a no-no because he's a diabetic. Ditto my mom and I. Still, I'll be making small batches of these gooey yummy pastry for our cheat days.
As always, thanks to Tanya for the photos. I can't take a decent photo even if my life depended on it.

Easy Sticky Buns
(recipe courtesy of Ina Garten, BB)
Makes 12

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.