Lighter caper sauce still creamy, flavorful
By Elaine Magee
Q. My aunt gave me this wonderful and easy recipe but it's loaded with calories. I would like to have it more than once a year! Thanks.
A. I like the "make and bake" aspect of this recipe too. Instead of a cut-up chicken, we are going to use skinless boneless chicken breasts and instead of "browning them in a couple tablespoons of butter" like the original recipe, we are going to brown them in a hot, nonstick skillet with a tablespoon of canola or olive oil. And instead of using 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, we are using a cup of fat-free half-and-half blended with some cornstarch.
Obviously this creates a dish that is much lighter but the chicken is still moist and tender and the caper sauce is still creamy and full of flavor.
Original recipe contains about 490 calories, 39 grams fat, 20 grams saturated fat, and 190 mg cholesterol per serving.
CAPER CHICKEN
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In between two sheets of wax paper, tenderize the chicken breasts with meat mallet slightly to flatten them out a little.
Spread oil in the bottom of a large, nonstick skillet and heat over high heat. When oil is good and hot, add the chicken breasts and brown them on both sides. Remove breasts to 9-by-9-inch baking dish (the chicken might overlap slightly). You can use a 9-by-13-inch baking dish if you don't think your chicken breasts will fit.
While chicken is browning, in small bowl blend cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the fat-free half-and-half. Whisk in the remaining fat-free half-and -half.
Reduce heat to medium and in the same skillet that you browned the chicken breasts in, combine half-and-half mixture, capers, caper juice, oregano, ground pepper and bay leaf. Bring to boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove bay leaf and spoon caper sauce over chicken. Bake, covered with foil, about 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked throughout.
Makes 4 servings.
