Parmesan Chicken

I have been waiting all month to make Ina’s Parmesan Chicken! Why I put it off until the night before posting day, I don’t know…but it was SO good!!! I have to send a big shout-out to Megan of My Baking Adventures for choosing this awesome recipe! You really should go check out what Megan’s doing over there – she makes her BB recipes with her kids, Sabrina and Alexander. They even have their own blog where they share their cooking experiences with everyone. Sabrina and Alexander get to choose July’s first recipe, which will be announced on Monday, June 30th. Can’t wait!

So back to the Parmesan Chicken. It was great. All of the comments in the Musings post were glowing reviews so I was even more psyched up about it when it came time to make it last night. The whole recipe came together very easily. I’ve been trying to cut back on buying store-bought breadcrumbs because of the preservatives so I made my own last night with some whole wheat bread. Not a good idea. I think the bread was too fresh and the coating much preferred to stick to the bottom of the pan rather than the chicken. Oh well. The cooked up coating crumbles were nice and crunchy and added some good texture to the dish.

The chicken itself was wonderful. I would never have thought to top a breaded chicken cutlet with a little salad but it really worked and the combination of the lemon vinaigrette and chicken was to die for. Just so good. The vinaigrette was not overpowering at all (as I had expected it could be) but lent just enough subtle flavor to the salty chicken (salty from the Parmesan cheese) to really bring the two flavors together.

I halved the recipe and used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts but ended up needing a little extra breadcrumbs/Parmesan mixture. The 1/2 amount of vinaigrette was the perfect amount for 3 pieces of chicken but I think I would reduce the olive oil by a tablespoon or so. I’ll definitely be making this one again soon but will be sure to dry out my breadcrumbs first.

Thanks again to Megan for choosing this great recipe!!

Next month’s recipe will be chosen by Sabrina and Alexander of Cooking with the Kids and Ashley of The Spicy Skillet. Be sure to check out Barefoot Bloggers to see next month’s recipes as well as to see how the rest of the growing group (now 80 strong!!) did this week with the Parmesan Chicken.

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Parmesan Chicken

source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• Unsalted butter
• Good olive oil
• Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry
• 1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Instructions:

1. Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
2. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Vinaigrette:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Yield: 6 servings