Ina's Parmesan Chicken

It's the second Thursday of June, Good Morning and time for another Barefoot Bloggers post! This weeks recipe was chosen by fellow BB, Megan, at My Baking Adventures. Her choice was Ina's Parmesan Chicken. Now, those who know me know that I rarely cook with meat, but I have made this before and was happy to do so again. The key to this recipe is buying the best chicken and parm that you can. I believe that in this episode of Barefoot Contessa, Ina goes to a local chicken farm to pick up the breasts she will be preparing. I have no source for chicken that fresh, but the local grocer does carry a free range, organic product. However, I did serve fresh picked greens from my garden. In the show she is also preparing the dish for a "mystery guest" who turns out to be Mel Brooks. Well, in my case Mel failed to show, but the meal was terrific anyway. The great thing about parm chicken is that you can pound them out then flour, dip, bread and stack them between sheets of waxed paper earlier in the day. They cook up very quickly. I only made about a third of the chicken recipe, since there are only 2 of us, but made all the vinaigrette so I would have some on hand for another meal.

Easy peasy, enjoy!

Parmesan Chicken
serves 2

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 2, washed and spun dry
1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin. I placed a sheet of waxed paper on top and used a rolling pin.

They don't look so pretty, but here is the result.

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.

At this point, I stacked mine on a plate with wax paper in between the layers and put them in the fridge until I was ready to cook them.



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 (if they don't all fit in the pan ). Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Viniagrette:
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

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

Stay tuned, next BB post, Thursday July, 10!