I live more than 10,000 miles away from my family. We decided to all cook my mom's chicken piccata on the same night to feel closer.
Alexandra Karplus
- During a recent Zoom chat, my sisters and I got nostalgic about my mom's chicken with capers.
- I live more than 10,000 miles away from my mom and siblings, so we rarely eat together.
Growing up in a family with four kids, two dogs, and a cat, dinner time was usually hectic. As the youngest, I struggled to get a word in when my older siblings talked about their days or when debates came up at the table.
But despite the chaos, we gathered around the table to eat together on every school night, and it was a time of day that I always looked forward to.
Now, as a mother of two, I try to recreate a similar atmosphere in my own home. Somehow with fewer people and animals, it can still feel just as energetic — and perhaps a bit more exhausting.
My parents grew up in Argentina, which was clearly reflected in our weekly menu.
As expected, steak was a staple, as were Italian-inspired dishes — many of which are popular across Buenos Aires. One of the dishes we ate a lot as kids came up during a Zoom chat with my mom and sisters last week.
We were discussing what we were each planning to make for dinner and I brought up my mom's chicken with capers. It had been years since any of us had eaten the chicken and my sisters and I realized my mom was the only one who had actually cooked it.
My mom explained on the call that this wasn't something she grew up eating in Argentina. Instead, it was a dish she had tried for the first time at an Italian restaurant in London, where she lived with my father in the 1970s.
"Once I tried that chicken, it was all I ever wanted to order at any Italian restaurant. I learned how to make it soon after," she said.
I moved to Singapore from New York 15 years ago, and my mom, brother, and two sisters are scattered across the US, Canada, and Dubai. So, catching up for a Sunday dinner to relive my mom's delicious dish was not going to be an option. Instead, we agreed to all cook the dish in our own homes and share photos of our creations.
My mom doesn't typically write down — or even follow — recipes, but she decided that a version of the dish from Italian-American chef Giada De Laurentiis was close enough. She sent us all a link to the recipe on Food Network. We were given the task of preparing what is officially referred to as chicken piccata for our own families.
My kids love chicken Milanese, which is a similar dish, but I wasn't sure how they'd feel about capers.
Growing up in New York, capers were often sprinkled on top of my smoked salmon and cream-cheese-smothered bagels. As my kids were both born in Singapore, where capers are far less common, they have had little exposure.
To make six servings of chicken piccata, you'll need the following ingredients:
- 6 skinless and boneless chicken breasts (De Laurentiis' recipe only uses two breasts, which she notes to butterfly and cut in half. My chicken may have been smaller, but there was enough sauce and chicken for six portions)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour, for dredging
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used one less tablespoon)
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves of garlic (not included in De Laurentiis' recipe)
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
I got my kids involved in some of the prep work, including squeezing lemons and de-stemming parsley.
I try to use my kids as mini sous chefs whenever possible. As burning hot oil and sharp knives are not an option, my daughter and son helped with juicing and measuring.
Next, heat the oil and butter in a large pan.
I added garlic to the recipe, as it was helpful to drop in a clove and make sure there was a good sizzle. It always tastes delicious when it's nice and crispy.
Place the chicken in the pan and let it sizzle.
Three minutes per side works. Don't worry about undercooking — it gets a bit more time on the heat later.
After removing the chicken from the pan, add the rest of the ingredients to create the sauce.
Add the lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers into the pan. Scrape down any crispy bits of chicken that have been left on the pan. Once it comes to a boil, place the chicken back in the pan and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
De Laurentiis recommends adding two more tablespoons of butter and whisking at the end, but I cut this down to just one more tablespoon.
Place the chicken on a platter and pour the sauce over. Garnish with chopped parsley.
All told, it took less than an hour to prepare the meal, including sides. If I were cooking on a tighter deadline, I'd probably juice the lemons myself instead of having my kids do it.
I served the dish with roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes, but tons of other side dishes would pair well. One of my sisters went with an arugula salad and the other chose pasta.
Sharing the dish with my kids — who were quickly converted into caper lovers — made me feel a bit closer to the rest of my family.
Given that my siblings, mom, and I live across so many time zones, none of us had dinner at the same time — but we did all share photos of our dishes in our WhatsApp group. For the next 12 hours, my phone was lighting up with photos of their renditions of the delicious chicken dish. In the end, my mom's still looked the best, after all these years.
I hope to share a meal with my family soon, but for now, we're all discussing what dish we're going to make "together" next.
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