It's pic-CAH-ta

Resolved:
Cook 1 new and yet-untried recipe every week.
Or more, if I can manage it.

This is last week's endeavor, Chicken Piccata. With capers!

What prompted this cooking resolution, you ask? 

1. The fact that I'm wasting 1/4 of my rent if I don't use my kitchen.
2. The fact that my appliances, though ancient and somewhat falling apart, deserve better dignity than the storage and heating of frozen foods afford. 
3. The fact that said foods are bumming me out. 
4. The magazine Cooks Illustrated -- like MythBusters, for the kitchen. Seriously, even if you don't cook, this magazine is a wealth of scientific/handy culinary info.
5. Yeah, ok. The movie Julie & Julia. I actually wanted to do this before the movie, but the movie pushed me to quit lazing about and do it.

This recipe was from Cooks Illustrated: Italian Favorites 2009, found in the Meijer magazine aisle. (So I guess throw Meijer into the "inspiration list" too.) It's tangy and has a lovely depth to it thanks to the capers (which I usually don't care for). The sauce's secret was a whopping 1/4 cup of lemon juice, plus the slices you see simmered in a skillet all together until reduced. Plus chicken broth instead of white wine, which would've made it too..zippy? Anyway, it all was a delicious way to pep up saute-ed chicken, was very quick (though admittedly slower than microwaving Bagel Bites. Not a bad thing.) and made for a legitimately fulfilling meal. Hooray.

The only thing I'd change about this recipe (which I'll post later, and I hope it's not violating any copyright laws...) is to add a touch of flour to the sauce (which is supposedly a terrible thing to do but honestly, I could go for a mellower sauce).
Overall conclusion: So far, success. 
Slip-ups included:

• dropping some lemon slices on my bunny (Nunners) who had wandered unnoticed to the kitchen (she tasted, then bolted from, the slices)
• grabbing the warming dish in the oven with my bare hands (MINUS TEN POINTS), and
• leaving the dishes unwashed in the sink overnight. Capers are the last thing anybody should smell in the morning.   

Speaking of morning, it's now 3am. I'd come up with a snappy closing but really...it's 3am.Goodnight!