Recipe #11 - Chicken Parmesan

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-parmesan-recipe/index.html

10 recipes down and only 90 to go which brings us to lucky number 11.  I decided on an all time favorite of my wife, Chicken Parmesan.  I enjoy it as well but I consider her a connoisseur of the breaded chicken with tomatoes and cheese.   And also joining me on this adventure is another connoisseur of the parm, my good friend Josh.  We've known each other for about 30 years and chicken parm has also been his go-to meal.  Whether served in a roll or with pasta I imagine most people love the parm so let's see if this lives up to their standards.

Before going forward I think it's important to get a history lesson.  And what better way to learn history than from Wikipedia, a free site where anyone can put anything they want on there and anyone else can update and change it.   Here's the link to the Parmigiana:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigiana

I first noticed that Tyler spells his recipe "Parmesan" where the traditional spelling is "Parmigiana".  And here's a brief explanation on the discrepancy:


There are several conflicting theories for the origin of the name parmigiana.
One common theory attributes the name to the use of Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese).^[3]
Another theory attributes the name to an alteration of the Sicilian word parmiciana:

As with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, the word Parmigiana is often rendered, incorrectly, as "Parmesan" in English-speaking countries, from the French word for "from Parma."

So I guess I'm making the "English" version.

And as far as the origin of the dish. here's your history lesson:

The dish is claimed by both Campania and Sicily. While "parmigiana" usually means "from Parma" (in Northern Italy), the dish is not part of Parma cuisine. It is based upon melanzane alla parmigiana (alt. parmigiana di melanzane) or eggplant parmigiana (or eggplant Parmesan), a classic Southern Italian dish.

Now that we have that out of the way boys and girls, we can continue with the recipe.

Most of the ingredients minus the chicken.  Didn't feel like I needed to show you a package of chicken breasts.  If you really want to see a package of chicken breasts, go to your local grocer or supermarket and stand in the meat department.  You'll eventually see one. 

We begin making the sauce.  I strongly believe that the sauce is what sets apart your average pizza/sub shop chicken parm with a homemade or good Italian restaurant parm.  Anyone can bread and fry chicken, but the taste of this dish comes from the herbs, spices, tomatoes, and whatever else you put in there.  And after making the sauce from scratch it will be hard to go back to sauce in a jar (Even though I still do it because it saves time and there are some pretty good ones out there).

We start the base of the sauce by chopping onions and garlic like this.

Pretty cool, huh?  Figured I needed some animations to keep the kids happy.

 Add them to some olive oil in a good sized sauce pan or skillet and let them get to know each other until softened.

This one might start to move if you stare at it long enough.

 At this point you are supposed to add the olives.  I don't care for olives so I didn't get any.  If you like olives, by all means, add the olives, but if you don't just leave them out.  After adding the tomatoes and mixing it all up you'll get something like this.

Looking pretty good.  Reminds me of Christmas with the reds, greens and whites.   "Hey! Chingedy ching, (hee-haw, hee-haw)It's Dominick the donkey. Chingedy ching,(hee-haw, hee-haw) The Italian Christmas donkey."

Add some salt pepper and sugar and you're pretty much done with the sauce.  Let it cook on low or simmer while you make the cutlets.  

Before pounding your meat, I advise that you get wide shallow bowls.  Fill with flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs like so.

3 different vessels.  Pasta bowl, regular bowl, and plate.  It's not pretty but use whatever you have that will hold the ingredients.  If you're like me, you'll end up making a mess anyways.  

Now it's time to work those muscles!  Place the chicken breast between plastic wrap and pound that breast until about 1/2 inch thick or thin.

Another amazing animation!  Make sure to use the flat end of the meat mallet. No need to tenderize the breast. If you don't have a meat mallet, you can use a hammer, a can, a heavy book, your fists, your head, rolling pin, 2x4, or anything that might flatten the chicken without destroying it.

Now it's time to bread the chicken.  The order is flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs. 

And when you're done they will look like this

Cooking in some olive oil.  Could only fit two at a time. 

And your fingers will look like this!

Yum!

Cook about 5 minutes on each side until nicely browned.

Since I couldn't fit all the chicken in the pan I cooked it in two batches and decided to bake the parm in a casserole dish.  Tyler says to do it in the pan but you'd need a pretty big pan to fit it all.  So I put the chicken on the bottom, covered with the sauce, layered with slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh grated Parmesan, and jar grated parmesan cheese.  Top it off with some torn up fresh basil.

Before the oven.

And in about 15 minutes you're done!

After the oven.

I served this with spaghetti and garlic bread.  

Garlic bread two ways.  Butter and Olive Oil.  Bread appears in this blog courtesy of Jenn. Thanks Jenn!

A generous helping of chicken parm served on a bed of spaghetti with a slice of garlic bread. 

This is by far one of the best chicken parms I've ever had.  Sweet tomato sauce with a plethora of melted cheeses surround the crispy breaded chicken with the support of the spaghetti.  Pair this with a nice red wine, sit back and enjoy!  

There was plenty of food for 4 of us with a serving or two left over.  Everyone enjoyed it or they at least told me they did.  Special thanks to my wife and good friends, Josh and Jenn.  

Once again the coveted 4 clean plate award will be given to this meal.

And it feels wrong to finish the blog without a pic of the little one so here she is supporting the Bruins in their search for the cup!

Go Bruins!

Next up:

Salt and Pepper Salmon

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/salt-and-pepper-salmon-recipe/index.html