Scallopini...and Milanese....and Piccata....oh my!

Chicken Piccata

My Father used to make a meat dish every Saturday, saving the red sauce for a Sunday, and one of my favorites was Veal or Chicken Milanese served simply with a lemon wedge but sometimes he would turn the pan drippings into a sauce and then it was called Scallopini. Scallopini is basically a piece of meat that is sliced thin and breaded and sauteed just like Milanese. But what differentiates it from Milanese is the sauce, you simply add some white wine and or lemon and reduce, adding some butter at the end. If you would like to make it Piccata style then add some capers to the sauce. So there you go: 3 recipes in 1....and that's why the Italian kitchen is so called La Buona Cucina : )
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts or veal cutlets or pork loin fillets
salt & pepper
1 cup bread crumbs (I like Panko) in a shallow bowl or pie plate
2-3 eggs beaten with a tablespoon of water in  shallow bowl or pie pan
1/2 cup all purpose flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate
olive oil
lemons
butter (If making Scallopini or Piccata)
white wine (If making Scallopini or Piccata)
capers (If making Piccata)
optional: fresh parsley chopped
Directions
If using chicken breasts or pork loin fillets cut in half along it's width or butterfly.

Set up a pan in a warm oven (lowest setting)
Heat up olive oil over med high heat in a pan.
Pound your meat into thin slices. I do this in between wax paper or plastic wrap or inside a large plastic bread baggie.
Dry off and season each piece with salt and pepper.
Now set up your plates in this order: flour, eggs, bread crumbs. Do this near your pan.
Now dip one fillet at a time in flour shaking off excess, then egg dripping off excess, then bread crumbs shaking off excess as well.
Now saute for 2-3 minutes on each side, cut the first one to see if it is cooked and then do that same time for all the other. If they are the same size and thickness it will be correct time, I promise : )
Once they are all in the pan in the warm oven squirt lemon juice all over.
For Milanese: Serve with more lemon wedges.
For Scallopini: add some white wine and lemon juice to the pan r and cook until thickened up into a sauce, add butter and mix together until melted and incorporated, add salt to taste. Pour over cutlets and serve.
For Piccata: Do same as scallopini but also add some capers along with a small amount of their juice to the pan when you add the wine and lemon. Pour over cutlets and serve.
Note: You can also add some fresh chopped parsley at the end of either dish : )