chicken parmagiana

First, place a gallon ziplock bag on your counter, then put a half chicken breast on the bag and then top the chicken with another gallon ziplock bag. You can use cling wrap/film, but it does not stand up to the beating as well as a sturdy ziplock bag.

Using a kitchen mallet or rolling pin or even a rubber mallet from a hardware store pound the meat until you have created a fairly uniform half inch thick cutlet. If you lose some of the meat in the pounding process, keep them and bread them, they make great little chicken nuggets.

Once you have flattened all six pieces of chicken you need to get ready for the breading process.

Before you do, turn on your oven to 350. When you fry your cutlets, if they are nice and browned but not fully cooked, you can finish them off in the oven without burning the outside.

I usually set up an assembly line 6 plates. On the first plate you should have your unbreaded chicken cutlets. On the second plate place the milk. On the third plate mix the flour, salt and pepper. On the forth plate beat the eggs. The fifth plate is for the panko breadcrumbs mixed with your grated parmesan. The sixth plate is where you will place your breaded cutlets.

Starting with the first plate, pick up your cutlet, and dip it into the milk on plate 2, then dip the milky cutlet into the seasoned flour on plate 3. Make sure the entire surface is coated in a thin layer of flour then dip your floured cutlet into the beaten eggs on plate 4. Make sure you get a good covering of eggs before dipping your eggy cutlet into the breadcrumbs on plate 5. As with each step make sure you get a good coating of breadcrumbs before placing the breaded cutlet on plate 6. Then go back to plate one and go through the process again.

If at any stage you start to run low on any of the ingredients on any of the plates, just top them up so you can finish the process. I often need to add another egg, or some more breadcrumbs.

As you bread your chicken your fingertips will get breaded too, don't worry about that, but if it grosses you out, just wash your hands between every couple of cutlets.

You are now ready to cook.

I am a little impatient, so I heat 2 frying pans with a medium heat, so I can fry 2 cutlets at the same time. Add a tablespoon of butter to each frying pan, you can use oil, but butter has a better flavor. Once the butter has melted and starts to bubble, swirl your frying pan to get a nice even coating and add your cutlet. It should sizzle when you add it, if it doesn't, don't worry it will when you flip it over. Cook the cutlet until it is nice and browned on one side then flip it over. When both sides are nice and brown, check the internal temperature of your cutlet, if it is 155° then take it out of the pan, blot it with paper towel and set it aside to rest on a cooling rack so it does not get soggy. It will keep cooking when you take it out of the pan, so don't worry if it does not get to 165° in the pan. If you have a good golden brown color on both sides, but your chicken is still undercooked, stick it in your preheated oven for a couple of minutes until it reaches 155° then set it aside to rest.

Once all your chicken is cooked, put on pot of water to boil your spaghetti. While the water is coming to a boil, place the cutlets you are going to eat in an over proof dish and slice your mozzarella into quarter inch thick slices.

If you are not eating all the cutlets, allow the ones you are not eating to cool then freeze. Defrosted cutlets make great chicken parm sandwiches, if you don't feel like making pasta.

When the water boils add the spaghetti, then top the cooked cutlets with some Marinara sauce and enough mozzarella to melt down the sides of your cutlets. Put your oven proof dish into the oven. Your cheese should be nice and melted by the time the spaghetti is ready. I know some people sit their cutlets in Marinara sauce, I don't, because I went to all the trouble of making a crispy cutlet, why then sit it in sauce to make it soggy?

When the cheese is melted and the spaghetti is al dente assemble plates of lovely chicken parmigiana with a side of spaghetti marinara. Serve with a nice fresh baguette.

Enjoy.