Earlier this week I gave you a romantic steak dinner menu to serve to your special someone on Valentine’s Day.  But maybe you don’t like steak.  Or red wine.  Or broccoli (I don’t blame you, I eat it very begrudgingly).  This would be my next pick to serve to someone on Valentine’s Day.  Chicken piccata is lemony and fresh, tangy and delicious.  Rosemary roasted potatoes are the perfect, rustic accompaniment.  Of course you could still serve broccoli with this if you wish, but it’s totally fine with me if you skip it.  No arguments there.

Chicken piccata has always been one of my favorite chicken dishes.  I first discovered it at a restaurant I was working at as a busgirl when I was a teenager.  We used to get 50% off meals after our shift was over, and chicken piccata was something that I had seen on the menu and always wanted to try.  I will always remember the night I pulled $6 from my tips and asked the chef to make this for me.  He gave me a look like REALLY KID because of course he was trying to clean up and go home too.  But I batted my pretty teenager eyelashes and said please and he made it for me.  Because I’m awesome.

I took my first bite and I remember thinking that it tasted exactly how I thought it would taste.  Light, refreshing, lemony.  The chicken so tender and juicy.  The sauce so smooth and buttery.  I housed that plate of chicken and for the longest time, that restaurant was the only place around that I could get chicken piccata.  Until I grew up and learned how to make it myself.  And now I like my version better than that restaurant’s version.  I have spent many years perfecting this sauce recipe.  The secret to this sauce is the butter-flour mixture.  Instead of making a roux, you mix it together like this:

And this makes the sauce so, so slutty.

Rosemary roasted potatoes is actually one of our stand-by side dishes.  We probably eat these once a week.  They are so easy and come out perfect every single time.  This started out as one of those recipes we found somewhere online that sounded great but whenever we made them, they didn’t turn out right.  The potatoes were always burnt, or they stuck to the baking sheet, or they were too done on the outside and not done on the inside.  My husband is the one who has actually perfected this recipe, thanks to his many nights of starting dinner before I get home.  There really is nothing like biting into a perfectly roasted potato – crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, perfectly seasoned, tasty and herby.

They are a perfect side dish for chicken piccata.  They go pretty well with the sauce so, you know, if you have extra sauce all over your plate as I most often do, you can dip your potatoes in the sauce for a lemony, slutty treat.