What is the “Lessons” section? Well, I figured it was just going to be my little place on the web to put advice, tips, tricks, general practices, and as it would seem, recipes!

Maybe I shouldn’t be teaching a lesson on something I just cooked for the first time ever, but considering how good it turned out, i figured why the hell not. There are dozens of recipes out there anyway, so if you don’t like what I did, well, you can just follow one of those

First thing I did was look around the internet for a solid starting point: what are the general ingredients that go into Chicken Scallopine? Once I’d found that, I was ready to head to the store. Here’s what I got:

• Fresh Mushrooms - how many is up to you. Really. At least a “package” worth, but depending on how you buy them, this could change to a “couple of handfuls.” What kind? Any kind you want. Choose a mushroom that fits your preference.
• 2 large lemons
• 1 bottle of capers (you won’t need the whole bottle, so if you already have some, rock)
• Salted, Sweet Cream Butter - I get it in sticks
• 1 Bottle of Sauvignon Blanc
• Angel Hair Pasta
• 1 Package Chicken Breasts
• 1 Package Bacon
• Exxxtra Virgin Olive Oil
• Flour
• Paprika
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• Kosher Salt (though standard table salt will work fine)
• Garlic Powder or fresh garlic
• Parmesan cheese (dry grated for chicken, fresh to put on top after finished)
• 16oz Container Heavy Whipping Cream

First things first…

Anytime I’m going to make an Italian dish with mushrooms, unless we’re talking spaghetti or lasagna, I like to sautee the mushrooms first. Whether making Chicken Marsala or now Scallopine. There’s two reasons:

1. It gives the mushrooms a better, juicier flavor and texture
2. Sauteeing the mushrooms first keeps them from soaking up all the fluid from your sauce later on when you combine things

Slice the mushrooms - not too thin, not too thick. Each head and stem will probably yield about 4 to 6 slices.

Put these in a medium sized sautee pan. Put in 1-2 tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle in some garlic powder if you’re using that, or finely chop up a single clove of fresh garlic. Put in with the mushrooms & butter.

Toss in 1 to 2 tablespoons of capers. Again, to your preference.

Cut one of those lemons in half.

Pour in half the white wine. Squeeze in the juice from half the lemon. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Set the heat to medium-high. Continue to watch these, stirring occasionally.

Usually these will cook for the duration of the other activities. You want to watch the wine dehydrate to a nice, syrupy reduction. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn.

Bacon makes everything better!

Measure out about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, put it into a large skillet. Set the heat to medium heat.

Cook between 4 and 8 pieces of bacon. Depends on how much bacon you want in the final dish. Don’t forget to stir those mushrooms

Set the bacon aside. You’ll crumble it up later.

Check to see how much oil is now in the large pan. you want about 4 tablespoons, so feel free to pour some out (into a coffee can of course).

Cut the Chicken!

While the bacon’s cooking, you can cut up the chicken.

Cut off all the fat. Chicken fat is just nasty. Tenderize your chicken with a meat tenderizer, get it to about 1/8″ thick. Cut into small scallions or chunks.

In one bowl, combine a pinch of salt, a tsp of paprika, tsp of ground black pepper and 1 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese. In another bowl place about a cup of flower.

Take the pieces of chicken, dip into the salt mixture, making sure to wipe off the excess. Otherwise your chicken will be too salty.

Dip into the flower, cover each side, and shake off excess.

Place into the oil, again, at medium high heat. Occassionally, and carefully, squeeze some lemon onto the chicken pieces.

I’d say test out a few pieces, tasting them, and see what amount works best for your taste palette. Cook all the chicken. Make sure to reserve at least one half a lemon for the sauce.

Remove the mushrooms

Mushrooms by this time should be nice and done. Keep them in the sautee pan and set aside.

If the chicken’s all done, clean out your big pan. Put it back on the stove. Fill it with the other half bottle of wine and the juice from half a lemon. Pick out any seeds that may fall in.

Cook the wine, undisturbed on medium-high heat. You want the water in the wine to evaporate down, so this can take 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large pot, fill with water, a pinch of salt and a tsp of olive oil. Bring to a boil. Cook your angel hair pasta to the directions. You’ll wanna time this right, so your pasta is done about the time your sauce is.

Cream it up!

Once your wine is a decent syrupy consistency, and while there’s a decent amount left in the pan (probably reduced by about 1/4), put in 2 tbsps of butter and half-cup of the heavy whipping cream.

Continue to let the sauce cook, stirring occassionally. It should start to bubble, and you should see the consistency thicken. If too much of the liquid cooks out, you can feel free to add more of the whipping cream. This is to taste. I’d make sure to add a little more lemon in each time you add in cream.

Add in the mushrooms, capers, bacon, and chicken. Stir. Let the chicken reheat. All the ingredients should start to heat back up.

Finish It!

Drain the noodles. Toss with about 1tbsp of button to keep them nice and separated.

Grate or sliver the fresh parmesan. Place in a bowl.

On each plate you’re serving, put a medium amount of noodles, then spoon/ladel on the Chicken Scallopine. Cover with the parmesan cheese to taste.

Eat. Enjoy. Let your eyes roll back in your head :p