Weeknight dinner staple: Crispy Breaded Chicken

Good afternoon!

I'm writing from a coffee shop near my house and am particularly excited that I have managed to write another blog post within a reasonable amount of time. My goal is 3 posts per week, wish me luck ;)  I wanted to dial it back some, and talk to you about the most basic, boring yet urgent of needs -  What do I want for dinner? With as many recipes that are floating around there, I'm still always a little surprised that I feel bored or unimpressed when asking this very important question to the Gods of the inter webs. Over 10 years ago when discussing press releases in class, one of my Communications professors in college once proclaimed loudly in class- KISS students!! Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. It stuck with me. Like many of you, I've found that my most treasured pleasures tend to be of the most simple variety - warm toast with really good butter and homemade strawberry jam, popping a few Manzanilla olives while cooking, the first gulp of chocolate milk from a big Trickling Springs Creamery jug. So many times, the answer to this ever-revolving question about dinner is simple: chicken. It's light, full of protein and relatively cheap. My current client's family is a protein packed family and chicken is a weekly "must-have" on the menu. One of the most popular ways people like to eat their chicken is breaded and fried-  think chicken tenders, fried chicken, schnitzel....the list goes on. I know breading is a pretty basic technique, but this blog is meant for cooks of every level and hey, we covered this in culinary school, so maybe I can teach you something. There are two important things to remember when breading :

1. Don't be afraid of making a mess/using too many dishes. This is not a canned soup in a pot kind of night. Let go, breathe out and give in to the mess and one too many bowls you will inevitably use. 

2. When you are ready to bread, choose a "breadcrumb" hand and choose an "eggy" hand. Do not interchange their jobs and keep them focused on their task to speed up the breading process and minimize trips to the sink to rinse off your hands. 

Let's get started. 

Italian Style Breaded Crispy Chicken 

Ingredients: 

• 5-6 chicken breasts
• Breading mix 
• 2 eggs

Technique: 

1. Unwrap your chicken breasts and season them well with salt and pepper. If you like, slice them in half. If you want them thinner, wrap them in plastic wrap and pound them thin. This all depends on how much time you have and what your preference is. The thinner the chicken, the faster and more evenly it will cook

2. Place your breading in one bowl, and your two eggs in another bowl. If you want to go Gluten Free, I highly recommend Ian's brand over Glutino as far as breading goes - they are two different products and Ian's is hands down superior. Pictured below is the "Italian Style" flavor, but both this one and plain are solid choices for Ian's. Take one chicken breast in your "eggy" hand and dip in the egg bowl. Lift and then place in breadcrumb bowl. Take your "breadcrumby" hand and make sure the breast is coated on both sides completely in breadcrumbs, shake gently and place on a plate. This might seem trickier than you thought to keep those  hands on task, but you'll get it after some practice.

3. Once all the breasts are breaded and assembled on a plate, heat oil (olive oil, coconut oil, whatever you prefer) in a medium skillet until warmed but not smoking on medium -high heat. If I'm quick enough, I'll bread the chicken and place directly on heated skillet - one less dirty plate!  Don't be afraid to play around with the temperature. If it's browning too quickly and you fear burnage- turn down the heat. If you don't hear a sizzle before you see a turtle cross the room, turn up the heat. This is a basic and important skill of a trained chef - understanding, feeling out and respecting temperature to achieve consistent top quality browning. Throw on 3-4 breasts so that you are using most of the pan, but not overcrowding. Never overcrowd when you are cooking. Chicken needs space and alone time just like us to become the best version of itself. Cook on each side for 1-2 minutes until nicely browned, then place on foil lined oven pan in oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until your meat thermometer registers at 165 degrees. Everyone's oven is different, so air on the side of caution at first and check after 5 minutes until you master this recipe. Once cooked, pat yourself on the back for making this gorgeous chicken that you can dress up for a fancy dinner party with pasta/rice/tomato sauce or dress down to amp up your boring salad or lunch time sandwich. It may be tempting to just throw this chicken in the oven, and that is fine if you are short on time, but I will tell you that when you take the extra 5-10 minutes to sear each side of those chicken breasts, you will achieve some nice browning, and as we all know.... more brown = more flavor.

I made this chicken with some tomato sauce with spinach and brown rice pasta. If you're having trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies, try chopping up a green (arugula, mesculin, spinach, kale) very finely and sneaking it into a sauce. I think Jerry Seinfeld's wife started this "let's sneak veggies into food so kids don't know they're eating them" and it seems to have stuck and progressed into smoothies, mashed potatoes, and purees. So far, it's worked like a charm.

Bon App mon amies! Enjoy :)