Why Are There Peas On Top Of The Chicken...?

I love Chicken Piccata.  I also love 30 minute dinners.  So, when I came across 30 minute suppers, Chicken Cutlets with Lemons and Capers, I was sold.  I really need to work on getting the protein right on the recipes. The recipe called for 8 chicken cutlets weighing in around 1 1/2 lbs. In my inability to follow directions, I purchased 4 weighing 1.3.  Let me tell you, this was a very good dish....I just needed to dial the lemon down a few notches.  Well, more than a few notches.  It was super tart. We all ate every bite and came away with the same critique.

I also had to answer the question "Why are there peas on top of the chicken?" I had to tell 2 kids on 2 different occasions, that those were not peas, they are capers.  Then, it was "What is a caper?" Having absolutely no clue what exactly a caper is...I did what any normal mom would do,  "Oh, I am sorry....you mean the green things...yes that's a pea.  A salty pea."  While writing this, I went ahead and looked up what the heck a caper is because I still don't know....So here you go :  "Capers are the unripened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, a prickly, perennial plant which is native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia".  Salty peas may be an easier route...or just have the kids google it and write up a little report on what they learned (which is what I will say next time I am put on the spot...)

The ingredients and Lucy-Fur the cat looking a little put off by the demonstration

The Breading Ingredients (maybe a little less lemon zest next time)

Bread after pulsing

Right before the oven

The chicken is done!

Very Lemon Chicken with Salty Peas

Take it easy with the Lemon (have I said that enough times?)  Cook's Country Oct/Nov 2010