Every week, Executive Food Editor Keith Dresser pairs each main dish with a side to give you a complete, satisfying dinner without the guesswork. Look for the game plan section to learn tips on how to streamline your kitchen work so dinner comes together quicker.
Dinner This Week
Dinner This Week: Chicken Piccata
This week’s menus include Chicken Piccata, Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin, and Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger for dinner in about an hour.
By Published Nov. 1, 2019
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Dinner 1: Chicken Piccata and Pan-Roasted Pear Salad
Game Plan: Start by cooking the pears, then allow them to cool while prepping the chicken and the remaining salad ingredients. Cook the chicken, then toss the salad right before serving.
For Chicken Piccata with tender chicken and a rich, flavorful lemon sauce, we start by briefly salting the cutlets to boost their ability to retain moisture and then lightly coat them in flour, which helps with browning. We sear the cutlets quickly on both sides and set them aside while making the sauce, which includes both lemon juice and lemon slices for complexity and textural appeal. A hearty amount of briny capers and a few tablespoons of butter finish the dish. For Pan-Roasted Pear Salad with Watercress, Parmesan, and Pecans, we toss quartered pears with a little sugar and cook them in a skillet until golden brown and softened. Adding a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to the hot pan yields a sweet/tart glaze. Spicy watercress balances the sweet pears and shaved Parmesan and toasted pecans add richness and texture.
Printable Shopping Lists: Chicken Piccata with Pan-Roasted Pear Salad
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Dinner 2: Oven-Steamed Fish and Steamed White Rice
Game Plan: Prep the fish through step 2, then start steaming the rice. Once the rice has been covered (step 3) start steaming the fish.
Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger employs both classic Chinese and French methods for cooking fish. We start by swapping the steamer for a tightly covered baking pan and the stovetop for a hot oven. Placing the skinless fillets on a foil sling allows the fish to flavor the cooking liquid and made it easy to transfer the fish to a serving platter without the fillets falling apart. Removing the fish from the oven before it is fully cooked prevents it from overcooking when finished with sizzling ginger-infused oil. Steamed White Rice is soft enough to soak up the savory sauce, yet sticky enough to pick up with chopsticks. Rinsing the grains removes some of their surface starch, and starting the rice in boiling water provides enough agitation to release the remaining starch, resulting in just the right amount of stickiness.
Printable Shopping Lists: Oven-Steamed Fish and Steamed White Rice
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Dinner 3: Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin and Sautéed Cabbage
Game Plan: Start by prepping the ingredients for both the pork and the cabbage. Once the pork has been transferred to the oven, wipe out the nonstick skillet and use it to cook the bacon and onion mixture for the cabbage (step 2), but wait until the pork is resting to sauté the cabbage (steps 3 and 4).
Our Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin recipe employs a stovetop-to-oven method that yields a well-browned crust and a succulent, tender interior. For a maple glaze that will adhere to the meat we have three tricks. First, we mix the syrup with molasses and mustard to create a thicker glaze. Second, we coat the tenderloin with cornstarch so the glaze will bond to it. Third, we add a second coat of glaze when the meat is nearly done. In our recipe for Sautéed Cabbage with Bacon and Caraway Seeds, we mitigate the pungent flavors and sulfurous odors that can plague overcooked cabbage. Instead of boiling or braising, we pan-steam and sauté the cabbage over relatively high heat to cook it quickly and add an extra layer of flavor from browning. Soaking the cabbage before cooking reduces bitterness while providing extra moisture to help the cabbage steam.
Printable Shopping Lists: Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin and Sautéed Cabbage
View more weeknight dinner ideas below, or check out all of the Dinner This Week menus.
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Start Free TrialAbsolutely the best chicken ever, even the breast meat was moist! It's the only way I'll cook a whole chicken again. Simple, easy, quick, no mess - perfect every time. I've used both stainless steel and cast iron pans. great and easy technique for “roasted” chicken. I will say there were no pan juices, just fat in the skillet. Will add to the recipe rotation. Good for family and company dinners too. I've done this using a rimmed sheet pan instead of a skillet and put veggies and potatoes around the chicken for a one-pan meal. Broccoli gets nicely browned and yummy!
Absolutely the best chicken ever, even the breast meat was moist! It's the only way I'll cook a whole chicken again. Simple, easy, quick, no mess - perfect every time. I've used both stainless steel and cast iron pans. great and easy technique for “roasted” chicken. I will say there were no pan juices, just fat in the skillet. Will add to the recipe rotation. Good for family and company dinners too.
Amazed this recipe works out as well as it does. Would not have thought that the amount of time under the broiler would have produced a very juicy and favorable chicken with a very crispy crust. Used my 12" Lodge Cast Iron skillet (which can withstand 1000 degree temps to respond to those who wondered if it would work) and it turned out great. A "make again" as my family rates things. This is a great recipe, and I will definitely make it again. My butcher gladly butterflied the chicken for me, therefore I found it to be a fast and easy prep. I used my cast iron skillet- marvellous!
John, wasn't it just amazing chicken? So much better than your typical oven baked chicken and on par if not better than gas or even charcoal grilled. It gets that smokey charcoal tasted and overnight koshering definitely helps, something I do when time permits. First-time I've pierced a whole chicken minus the times I make jerk chicken on the grill. Yup, the cast iron was not an issue.