Chicken Parmesan

When it comes to Italian cuisines...chicken parmesan is right up there with spaghetti w/ meatballs and lasagna. It doesn't really take that long to make and its pretty easy. Not to mention how good it is.  Lets face it, when you're dealing with breaded, fried chicken and melted cheese....you know you're talking about yummies for your tummies. 

I don't really have a "set" recipe. I did get some great ideas from watching Tyler Florence and following his recipe loosely. Tonight I didn't have time to make my own marinara sauce so I used 3 14.5 oz cans of that italian styled stewed tomatoes. It's really easy and tastes way better than even Prego! I just add a little garlic powder and some more italian seasoning and let it simmer while I make everything else. That way the extra "juice" cooks down some and you don't have this watery mess. Usually I get the "diced" kind, but for some reason I ended up with "sliced"...ooook Whatever.....I just got the ole potato masher out and smashed those suckers right up. As for the rest of the dish...here's whatcha do:

2 or 3 chicken breasts

salt and pepper

olive oil

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

4 thick slices of mozzarella cheese

Get out 2 shallow dishes (I find that pie pans work great!). In one pan, mix the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together. In the other pan, mix the egg and milk.

Here I have my marinara sauce simmering, and reducing while I get the chicken ready.

I butterfly the chicken breast so that I have twice as many slices. Its much easier than pounding the chicken into thin pieces. See that tiny piece at the top? mmmm....I think thats a "tenderloin" that had fallen off or something. Yep...I'll cook that too. Ok...now sprinkle your chicken with a bit of salt and pepper. 

Are you a single dipper or a double dipper? Nope, has nothing to do with chips and dip! Sometimes I dredge the chicken in the bread crumbs...dip it in the milk mixture and then coat it again with the bread crumbs. 

Put some oil in your pan and fry the chicken until golden brown over a medium heat. It helps if you can use an oven proof pan cuz pretty soon these babies are going to be baked!

Be careful cuz the parmesan cheese can burn quickly. I can't say exactly how long it will take...depends on the heat, the pan, the thickness....but Tyler says about 4 minutes on each side. Check out that little fried tenderloin!...YUM. Trust me...that baby didn't make it to the oven....muuuaaaa haa haaa

Now its time to make sure your spaghetti sauce is ready and your mozzarella cheese is sliced cuz we're going to put it all together. Is your oven preheated to 450'?

Now, spoon some sauce over the chicken and slap one of those cheese slices on top. If you'd like, you can sprinkle some more parmesan cheese on top as well. Put into the hot oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubble!

mmmm...talk about tender chicken!! Serve over your favorite pasta, maybe add a bit more sauce and enjoy!

If you want the crust to be crispier....get 3 pie pans out. Put some flour in one pan with salt, pepper and garlic. Plain bread crumbs in the other (no cheese) and then the milk and eggs in the last one. Coat with flour, then milk mixture then the bread crumbs. Save your parmesan cheese for the oven debut.