This recipe reminds me of Italy...kids playing Bocci in the fields, crazy people riding their Vespas at break-neck speeds, cobblestone streets lined with little tratorrias, red and white checked tablecloths and incredibly handsome waiters who patiently help me with my order and then offer to escort me back to my hotel....oh sorry...I got carried away...as I've never BEEN to Italy, only on imaginary trips, I would have no way of knowing if waiters do escort one back to one's hotel - or anything else - now would I?!? But when I want a true taste of Italy, I make this dish...it's always a pleaser and everyone asks for the recipe - then when they read it I wait to see the shock on their face when the see just how easy-peasy it is!
I clipped a recipe for Lemon Chicken from a magazine in 1992...the clipping just has the date on it and not the name of the magazine but over the year I've adapted this recipe so much it hardly resembles the original. The original calls for Lemoncello, a Sicilian liqueur, and I use fresh lemon juice and zest instead - it gives this dish the perfect amount of zing and keeps it kid friendly! I also changed how the ingredients were added, preferring the capers to be cooked with the chicken, for the saltiness they give the broth, instead of adding them at the end and then there's the cream...one cannot have Creamy Garlic Lemon Chicken without cream! I serve the chicken over rice, pouring the sauce on top...Heavenly!
Crock-Pot Creamy Garlic Lemon Chicken - Pots and Pins - Inspired by a Nameless Magazine Clipping from 1992
6 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed, boneless, skinless
1 cup vegetable broth
juice, zest and pulp from one large lemon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons capers, drained
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
In a crock pot, combine vegetable broth, juice, zest and pulp from the lemon, black pepper, garlic, and capers. Add chicken breasts, frozen or thawed. Cover with lid and cook on high heat for 4 hours if the chicken was thawed or cook for 5 hours if the chicken was frozen. When done, remove chicken from the crock-pot to a plate, keep warm. In a large skillet, over high heat, melt butter and add flour, stirring constantly. Slowly add the broth from the crock-pot, whisking to combine. Bring to a full boil, reduce heat and stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
"When the game is over the King and the Pawn go into the same box." Italian Proverb