CHICKEN THIGH SCHNITZEL with White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce & Tomatoes, Manzanilla Olives & Capers. Served with Bakes Sweet Potato & Brussel Spouts.
I have typically made Schnitzel with Chicken Breasts. Tonight I wanted to try the Chicken Thigh and I am pleased that I did. They pounded out nicely and were easy to trim away some of the fat. Being a dark meat there is more flavor. They also stayed beautifully moist. Starting now I have two very nice choices when making Schnitzel.
INGREDIENTS:
Boneless Chicken Thighs | Trim fat and pound them flat.
Jumbo Egg | Beaten
Schnitzel Coating Ingredients; 50/50 mix of Semolina Flour and Cornmeal (makes for a really crispy end result), Kosher Salt, Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, Basil, Cayenne, Garlic Powder, Smoked Paprika | Mix well with a fork.
White Wine | Chardonnay
Tomatoes | Medley of tomatoes
Manzanilla Olives
Capers plus Juice from them for brine
Lemon | Slice it in half to use the juice for the sauce
Unsalted Butter
EVOO
White Balsamic Vinegar
Sweet Potato | Cut in half then coat with EVOO, Kosher Salt, Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, Cayenne and Dark Brown Sugar (all these ingredients go onto the inside surface face up)
MTHOD:
Step 1: Do the prep as mentioned above. Turn the oven on to preheat at 420 degrees while you do the prep also turn the heat on medium low on a cast iron skillet.
Step 2: Place the Sweet Potato halves onto a small baking pan with parchment paper. Add the ingredients mentioned above. When the oven comes to temp place them into the oven for 40 to 50 minutes.
Step 3: Dredge the Chicken Thighs, first egg batter then the dredge mixture. Coat them very well. You can optionally do this twice. Place on a plate to the side for now.
Step 4: Making the White Wine Sauce. Add the tomatoes, olives and capers to the skillet. Let them heat up a bit and then add some butter and EVOO. Be careful of the splash. Let these ingredients sauté for roughly 4 minutes. Now add some Butter, Lemon Juice from 1/2 lemon for now. Stir in and when the butter is melted add the White Wine and stir. Next add some Kosher Salt and taste. Add more salt as needed as well as butter and the juice from the other half of the lemon. Let this simmer for about 15 minutes on a slightly lower heat. Taste every so often to ensure it meets with the approval of your palate. When it’s done pour into a mixing bowl and place to the side for now.
Step 5: Add some EVOO and Butter to the skillet and then drop the Chicken Thighs. These will cook on a medium to medium high heat. They take about 4 minutes on the first side and 3 after you turn them. Right after turning I added a splash of White Balsamic Vinegar.
Step 6: Add the White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce with all the ingredients into the skillet. These flavors will marry beautifully with the Schnitzel. After 2 to 3 minutes you are ready to serve.
Note: Timing the Sweet Potatoes and the Schnitzel to be ready together is just a matter of starting the Schnitzel with 20 minutes left on the baking time of the Sweet Potatoes. Cook up a vegetable of your choice to go with this super delicious meal.