Weeknight Dinner: Parmesan Crusted Chicken Cutlets
It's been, understandably for the end of January, very cold in the northeast for the last two weeks. Indeed, this time last week one notice after another was popping up from my Facebook friends that they were staying indoors and making the most hardcore of comfort foods: stews, baked pastas, even baked potatoes. I spent last Sunday making boeuf bourguignon for a French dinner that also included potato gratin (Julia Child's infallible recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking) and the tarte tartin that our friend Carrie baked for dessert.
These first icy weeks of the year present a challenge to home cooks: on one side, we have die-hard believers in the power of casseroles and braises, for whom the chill outside equals an obligation to fire up the oven indoors. On the other side, we have determined practitioners of New Year's diets, for whom the spare aesthetic of January equals a renewed sense of purpose at the gym and in the kitchen. This is confirmed by a quick scan of the magazine racks beginning as early as the week after Christmas. The headlines in the food and lifestyle magazines with the January cover date are evenly divided between comfort food and spa cuisine, morphing in February to the complimentary tussle between decadent chocolate desserts (one of which, by the way, I'll be posting in February) and having a lingerie- or silk-boxer-shorts-ready body in time for Valentine's Day.
I have no idea if this month's Weeknight Dinner qualifies as spa cuisine, but it is light, easy to prepare once you get the hang of it, and very good to eat. It is a chicken saute in which a crispy, cheesy coating -- really a frico -- replaces the breading typically used. It looks like it has a lot of steps but once you set mise en place this is a simple dish to prepare. A zippy whiff of oregano and a zap of fresh lemon keep the dish lithe on the palate. It harmonizes nicely with the capellini recipe I posted earlier this month. Serve the chicken and pasta with fennel salad and a chilled sauvignon blanc for a perfect mid-week supper.
That this recipe utilizes chicken breasts provides an opportunity to mention humane and sustainable farming. With a proposed Federal three-year freeze on many domestic programs including farm subsidies, it is more important than ever to understand where our food comes from. If you haven't, put Food Incorporated into your movie queue. It can be a difficult film to watch, but it is an important film to see if you're dependent on the food industry for your groceries. If you don't already, perhaps it will inspire you, along with your diet and exercise resolutions, to resolve to purchase and prepare humanely raised meat and poultry.
PARMESAN CRUSTED CHICKEN CUTLETS
A non-stick skillet is invaluable for this recipe and a must-have for the kitchen. If you don't have one, good, reasonably-priced skillets are widely available; here's a good selection from Crate and Barrel. Williams-Sonoma sells a set of breading trays; I use pie plates. The chicken breasts will be easier to cut if you freeze them just until firm; usually about ten minutes. Bypass the Parmesan sold in jars and tubes in the spaghetti aisle for a fresh chunk from the cheese counter; about 1/2 pound should do it.
One pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, preferably organic
One 8-ounce chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons white flour
2 large eggs
1 lemon, preferably organic
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1. Remove the chicken breasts from their packaging. Use a sharp knife and a clean cutting board reserved for poultry to trim the breasts of the tenderloin if it is present. The tenderloin is the strip that is attached to the large, main chicken breast and separated by a membrane. Freeze the tenderloin for another use. Slice each chicken breast it in half horizontally by placing the palm of your hand on the top of the thickest part of the breast and holding your knife parallel to the cutting board. Slice carefully, watching your hands and moving the edge of the knife away from you. You will need four thin cutlets. Cover with parchment paper or paper towels and set in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
2. Clean the lemon under cool water (if the lemon is not organic, use a commercial produce cleaner, following the label directions). Once the lemon is clean, set on a paper towel to dry.
3. Set three pie plates or breading trays within reach of the stovetop. Set a non-stick skillet on a front burner. Spray a length of aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray and set, sprayed side up, on a rack in the oven. Turn the oven to warm.
4. Use the small holes on a box grater to finely grate about 1/3 of the Parmesan into the first of the breading vessels. It should measure between 1/4 -- 1/3 cup; don't worry if the amount is not exact.
5. Add the flour to the grated Parmesan, along with several grindings of fresh black pepper and half of the dried oregano. Swirl the Parmesan mixture to combine all of the ingredients.
6. Use the large holes on a box grater to shred the remainder of the Parmesan into the third of the breading vessels. It should measure about 1/2 cup; again, don't worry if the amount is not exact. If your Parmesan has a rind, set it aside for making minestrone.
7. Hold an egg separator over the middle breading vessel and break each egg over the separator, letting each white fall into the breading vessel. Decant the yolks into a cup or storage bowl and refrigerate for another use. Add the remaining dried oregano and several grindings of fresh black pepper to the whites. Use a fork or small whisk to beat the eggs until light and slightly frothy.
8. Add a one-count of olive oil to the non-stick skillet and turn heat to medium.
9. Remove the chicken breast cutlets from the refrigerator. Dredge the first cutlet in the Parmesan-flour mixture, then the egg whites, then the grated cheese.
10. Place the first cutlet in the skillet and cook, adjusting temperature as needed, until cheese coating is golden brown, about three minutes for the first side. Use a silicon spatula to gently flip the cooking chicken breast in the skillet and to settle the cooked side which is now face-up. Cook until no longer pink in the center, approximately two minutes. Set the cooked chicken cutlet on the foil in the oven, wipe out the skillet with paper towels and add a fresh one-count of olive oil.
11. Dredge the second cutlet while the first is cooking and so forth through the third and fourth cutletx, setting each in the oven after it is cooked, wiping out the skillet after each cooks, and refreshing the cooking surface each time with a one-count of olive oil.
12. Slice the lemon into quarters lengthwise. Serve each cutlet with a lemon wedge for drizzling.
These first icy weeks of the year present a challenge to home cooks: on one side, we have die-hard believers in the power of casseroles and braises, for whom the chill outside equals an obligation to fire up the oven indoors. On the other side, we have determined practitioners of New Year's diets, for whom the spare aesthetic of January equals a renewed sense of purpose at the gym and in the kitchen. This is confirmed by a quick scan of the magazine racks beginning as early as the week after Christmas. The headlines in the food and lifestyle magazines with the January cover date are evenly divided between comfort food and spa cuisine, morphing in February to the complimentary tussle between decadent chocolate desserts (one of which, by the way, I'll be posting in February) and having a lingerie- or silk-boxer-shorts-ready body in time for Valentine's Day.
I have no idea if this month's Weeknight Dinner qualifies as spa cuisine, but it is light, easy to prepare once you get the hang of it, and very good to eat. It is a chicken saute in which a crispy, cheesy coating -- really a frico -- replaces the breading typically used. It looks like it has a lot of steps but once you set mise en place this is a simple dish to prepare. A zippy whiff of oregano and a zap of fresh lemon keep the dish lithe on the palate. It harmonizes nicely with the capellini recipe I posted earlier this month. Serve the chicken and pasta with fennel salad and a chilled sauvignon blanc for a perfect mid-week supper.
That this recipe utilizes chicken breasts provides an opportunity to mention humane and sustainable farming. With a proposed Federal three-year freeze on many domestic programs including farm subsidies, it is more important than ever to understand where our food comes from. If you haven't, put Food Incorporated into your movie queue. It can be a difficult film to watch, but it is an important film to see if you're dependent on the food industry for your groceries. If you don't already, perhaps it will inspire you, along with your diet and exercise resolutions, to resolve to purchase and prepare humanely raised meat and poultry.
PARMESAN CRUSTED CHICKEN CUTLETS
A non-stick skillet is invaluable for this recipe and a must-have for the kitchen. If you don't have one, good, reasonably-priced skillets are widely available; here's a good selection from Crate and Barrel. Williams-Sonoma sells a set of breading trays; I use pie plates. The chicken breasts will be easier to cut if you freeze them just until firm; usually about ten minutes. Bypass the Parmesan sold in jars and tubes in the spaghetti aisle for a fresh chunk from the cheese counter; about 1/2 pound should do it.
One pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, preferably organic
One 8-ounce chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons white flour
2 large eggs
1 lemon, preferably organic
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1. Remove the chicken breasts from their packaging. Use a sharp knife and a clean cutting board reserved for poultry to trim the breasts of the tenderloin if it is present. The tenderloin is the strip that is attached to the large, main chicken breast and separated by a membrane. Freeze the tenderloin for another use. Slice each chicken breast it in half horizontally by placing the palm of your hand on the top of the thickest part of the breast and holding your knife parallel to the cutting board. Slice carefully, watching your hands and moving the edge of the knife away from you. You will need four thin cutlets. Cover with parchment paper or paper towels and set in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
2. Clean the lemon under cool water (if the lemon is not organic, use a commercial produce cleaner, following the label directions). Once the lemon is clean, set on a paper towel to dry.
3. Set three pie plates or breading trays within reach of the stovetop. Set a non-stick skillet on a front burner. Spray a length of aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray and set, sprayed side up, on a rack in the oven. Turn the oven to warm.
4. Use the small holes on a box grater to finely grate about 1/3 of the Parmesan into the first of the breading vessels. It should measure between 1/4 -- 1/3 cup; don't worry if the amount is not exact.
5. Add the flour to the grated Parmesan, along with several grindings of fresh black pepper and half of the dried oregano. Swirl the Parmesan mixture to combine all of the ingredients.
6. Use the large holes on a box grater to shred the remainder of the Parmesan into the third of the breading vessels. It should measure about 1/2 cup; again, don't worry if the amount is not exact. If your Parmesan has a rind, set it aside for making minestrone.
7. Hold an egg separator over the middle breading vessel and break each egg over the separator, letting each white fall into the breading vessel. Decant the yolks into a cup or storage bowl and refrigerate for another use. Add the remaining dried oregano and several grindings of fresh black pepper to the whites. Use a fork or small whisk to beat the eggs until light and slightly frothy.
8. Add a one-count of olive oil to the non-stick skillet and turn heat to medium.
9. Remove the chicken breast cutlets from the refrigerator. Dredge the first cutlet in the Parmesan-flour mixture, then the egg whites, then the grated cheese.
10. Place the first cutlet in the skillet and cook, adjusting temperature as needed, until cheese coating is golden brown, about three minutes for the first side. Use a silicon spatula to gently flip the cooking chicken breast in the skillet and to settle the cooked side which is now face-up. Cook until no longer pink in the center, approximately two minutes. Set the cooked chicken cutlet on the foil in the oven, wipe out the skillet with paper towels and add a fresh one-count of olive oil.
11. Dredge the second cutlet while the first is cooking and so forth through the third and fourth cutletx, setting each in the oven after it is cooked, wiping out the skillet after each cooks, and refreshing the cooking surface each time with a one-count of olive oil.
12. Slice the lemon into quarters lengthwise. Serve each cutlet with a lemon wedge for drizzling.
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