Marinated Drumsticks November 5, 2009

I’m back!  I know, I was doing so good with posting and then I disappeared for a whole MONTH!  And trust me, it’s been a ridiculously busy month! I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that I will probably never be able to update this on a regular basis.  It’s unfortunate, I know, but my schedule is just way too variable depending on how many exams and other activities I have each week.  But don’t worry, I’ll definitely still keep posting recipes!  And now that we’re getting into the holiday season, I will for sure be cooking (and hopefully posting) more often.

It’s starting to get cold here, and I finally broke down about a week ago and turned my heater on.  For some reason, I hate doing that.  Not because I’m worried about increasing my utility bills or anything, but because that it means we’re in the inevitable downward slope towards snow.  Ugh, I hate snow.  I’m hoping it’ll hold off until at least after Thanksgiving.  A girl can dream, right?

As I’m sure is true with just about everyone, the cold weather makes me want to cook more often.  A lot of times during the summer I’ll just throw together a salad or a quick pasta salad for dinner, but now I’m craving warm, comforting food.  I decided to experiment a little bit with a cut of meat I don’t usually eat very often – the drumstick!  I’m really more of a boneless chicken breast girl, but I’m really glad I tried this recipe.  It’s super easy to make – just throw together the marinade in a plastic zip-top bag, toss the chicken in and let it sit for a few hours or up to a day, and then cook!  I really like the combination of garlic and honey in the marinade – the sweetness of the honey curbs the bite of the raw garlic and the extra bit of sugar helps the chicken caramelize really nicely in the oven.

Feel free to play around with the marinade and make it the way you like it.  I think next time I’m going to try leaving out the soy sauce entirely and adding in a few tablespoons of chopped chives.

Marinated Drumsticks

Adapted from: SimplyRecipes

Makes: 6-8 drumsticks

8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/4 c. olive or canola oil

1 tsp. salt (more or less, to taste)

1 tsp. pepper

6-8 chicken drumsticks

1) Combine all ingredients except drumsticks in a large zip-top plastic bag.  Seal the bag and squeeze it until all the ingredients are mixed well together.

2) Open the bag and add the drumsticks, squeezing the bag again until they are all well coated.  Place bag in a large mixing bowl (just in case it leaks!) and put in the refrigerator.  Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour, or up to one full day.

3) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

4) Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Remove the drumsticks from the bag of marinade and place on the baking sheet.  Discard remaining marinade.

5) Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and the outside is golden brown.

Pot Stickers September 1, 2009

Over the summer I worked as an intern at a Walmart pharmacy.  It was by and far one of the best jobs I’ve had, mainly because of my coworkers.  The two pharmacists I worked with were both super nice and supportive, and all the pharmacy techs were really fun.  We had a bunch of fun working together, and I miss them all!  I really liked that I was able to make friends with all of my coworkers – usually you just try to get by and stay away from the ones that you really don’t like, but I didn’t have to do that here.  On my last day working there, they even had a potluck for me!  Our pharmacy closes for 30 minutes every day so the pharmacist can eat lunch, so everyone brought a dish to pass and we had a mini party during the lunch break.  There was some amazing food at that potluck, and very diverse food too!  Both pharmacists, Anuya and Manisha, are from India so I got to try some real, authentic Indian food and one of the pharmacy techs, Tomoko, is from Japan and she brought these pot stickers.

I’ve always wanted to try branching out and cooking some more Chinese/Japanese food, but I feel like I just don’t know enough about the ingredients and the cooking methods to do it successfully.  There are so many different ingredients that I don’t use on an everyday basis or have never used at all, so when I see them in a recipe I have no idea how they will taste or work with everything else in the recipe.  So when I ate these at our potluck and realized how delicious they were, I knew I had to have the recipe!

This recipe makes a TON (probably over 100) pot stickers, so if you’re not sure if you’re going to love them, I’d definitely recommend halving the recipe and then deciding if you want to make more after you taste one. The good news is that the uncooked pot stickers freeze very well, and cook up without any change in the consistency.  Just make sure they’re completely thawed before you cook them.

These are a little bit time consuming, but the taste totally makes up for it.  Filling the pot stickers takes the most time, but as soon as you get used to the process it goes a little bit quicker.    Also, the recipe calls for round wonton wrappers, but I could only find square ones and then proceeded to cut each one into a circular shape.  Huge waste of time!  Next time, I’ll keep them square and just make rectangular shaped dumplings.

One last tip:  make sure and use a nonstick pan for this.  If you don’t, they will definitely live up to their name and completely cement themselves to the bottom of your pan.  Trust me, I know this from experience.

I was able to find the sesame oil and miso paste in the ethnic foods aisle in my grocery store, but I couldn’t find sake anywhere, so I just left it out.  I couldn’t really tell a difference in taste between the ones I made (without the sake) and the ones that Tomoko made (with the sake), so if you can’t find it, it won’t make much difference if you leave it out.  Tomoko did say that though the miso paste might be kind of hard to find, it makes a big difference in taste, so don’t leave it out unless you absolutely can’t find it.  The same goes for the sesame oil. And definitely don’t skip the dipping sauce – it only has two ingredients in it (both of which you’re very likely to already have on hand) and it makes a HUGE difference in the overall taste.

Potstickers (also known as Gyoza)

Source: Tomoko DeKilder

Makes: a lot! (Probably around 100)

2 pkgs. wonton or Gyoza wraps

1 lb. ground pork

1/2 green cabbage

2 bunches green onions or scallions, finely chopped

2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

2 tbsp. sake

1 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. sesame oil

2 tbsp. miso (soy) paste

salt and pepper, to taste

1-2 tsp. olive oil

1/4 – 1/2 c. water

Dipping Sauce

Equal parts soy sauce and white vinear

(for just me, I do 2 tbsp. of each – for a crowd, I’ll usually 1/4 cup of each)

1) Boil the cabbage whole for 3-5 minutes.  Drain and let sit until it is cool enough to handle.  Roughly chop.

2) Lay a clean, dry kitchen towel out on the counter.  Place half of the chopped cabbage in the middle of the towel, and pull up each side  and gather at the top to form a little bundle.  Squeeze and twist to extract as much water as possible.  Repeat with the remaining chopped cabbage.

3) Combine all pot sticker ingredients except the wonton wrappers, water and olive oil in a large bowl.

4) To form the dumplings, place one wonton wrapper on the counter.  Place about 1 teaspoon of filling into the middle of the wrapper.  Brush a little bit of water around the edges of half of the wrapper.  Bring the dry edges of the wrapper up to meet the wet edges and press to seal.  The dumplings should sit with the crimped edges at the top.  At this point, the pot stickers can be cooked or frozen for later use.

5) Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, place the pot stickers in the pan.  They should sit straight up with the sealed edges at the top.  Cook 1-2 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned.

6) Add the water to the pan and cover.  (The size of your pan will determine the amount of water you use – there should be about an inch of water in the pan)

7) Cook, covered, for 5-7 minutes until the wrappers become translucent and slightly wrinkly.  Remove the lid from the pan and cook until all of the water has evaporated and the bottoms have re-crisped a bit, about 3-5 minutes more.

8) For the dipping sauce, combine the soy sauce and vinegar and place in a small bowl.  Serve beside the pot stickers.

Chicken Marsala June 2, 2009

This is the last of the recipes from the cooking extravaganza that my friend Jen and I had a few weeks ago.  I’ve always wanted to try chicken marsala, so I was really excited when I saw that this was on the menu.   I love cooking with boneless skinless chicken breasts because they’re so easy to cook with and I always have them on hand.  However, sometimes it’s hard to find new and exciting ways to cook them and I get bored really easily with the same old chicken dishes.

Jen was in charge of pounding the chicken breasts.

I really liked that this recipe was super simple.  You could definitely pull off this dish from start to finish in 30 minutes, easy, which makes it perfect for a weekday meal.  And even though you use very few ingredients, you still get a really nice, rich flavor in the end.

There are a few different ways to pound out the chicken breasts for this recipe, but my favorite is to use plastic wrap.  Place a piece of plastic wrap (about a foot long) on the counter, and then place one chicken breast in the middle.  Cover the piece of chicken with another piece of plastic wrap.  Using a meat mallet or a heavy-bottomed cup, whack the chicken until it’s about 1/2 inch thick.  This way it keeps the counter and your hands relatively clean, and it makes for a really easy clean up — just fold the plastic wrap over so the part the chicken touched is on the inside, and throw away!

Chicken Marsala

Adapted from: AllRecipes.com

Makes: 4 servings (1 chicken breasts each)

1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/2 inch thickness

8 tbsp. olive oil, divided

8 tbsp. butter, divided

1 c. sliced mushrooms

1 c. Marsala wine

1/2 c. cooking sherry

1) In a shallow bowl or plate mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano.  Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, making sure it’s well coated.  Shake slightly to remove some of the excess flour.

2) In a large skillet, heat 4 tbsp. butter and 4 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.  Once hot, place two of the chicken breasts in the pan and cook until lightly browned.  Turn the chicken over and add the mushrooms.

3) Pour in the wine and cooking sherry.  Cover the skillet and simmer for 10 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear.  Repeat with the remaining two chicken breasts.

Jen and her husband Frankie with their respective bowls of chicken (Jen likes mushrooms, Frankie doesn’t)

Aren’t they adorable?

Baked Ziti June 1, 2009

Happy first day of June! I’m so glad it’s finally getting warm here. I love summer!

This baked ziti was the second thing that Jen and I cooked during our cooking extravaganza. I love baked pasta dishes, because they’re always so easy to make and they freeze and reheat really well. This one was a little bit different than the baked ziti I always make, because it calls for adding some fresh basil (always a good thing!) and ricotta cheese. I will definitely be making it sometime soon!

That’s me!  Mixing spaghetti sauce into the cooked ground turkey.

Mmmm, look at that fresh basil and garlic!

(And wine and Wheat Thins…hey, we can’t have hungry cooks!)

Jen and I with the finished product!

This recipe is really easy to customize to fit your own tastes.  You can use ground beef or turkey and you can add more or less cheese and fresh herbs.  Instead of using plain tomato sauce, we used spaghetti sauce, which will bump up the flavor quite a bit.  My favorite is Prego Fresh Mushroom, but you can use whatever kind you like.  Instead of using shredded mozzarella cheese, Jen ended up buying a few balls of fresh mozzarella.  We cut it up into chunks and mixed about half into the pasta mixture and then sprinkled the rest on top right before baking.  I actually liked this better, because then there’s little pockets of cheese inside the pasta, along with the nice little blobs of it on top.

Baked Ziti

Makes: One 13×9 inch pan (about 8 servings)

Adapted from: Foodfit.com

1/2 lb. ziti pasta

4 tsp. olive oil

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground turkey

2 c. tomato sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

1/3 c. fresh basil, chopped

1 c. ricotta cheese

2/3 c. grated mozzarella cheese

1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook until just shy of being done (you want them to be still slightly chewy in the middle), about 8-10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once hot, add the onion and saute until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for one minute more.

3) Add the ground turkey to the skillet with the onion and garlic, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until turkey is completely cooked through.  Drain off any excess fat.

4) Add the tomato sauce to the skillet and mix until combined.  Heat over low heat until bubbly, about 5 minutes.

5) In a large bowl, mix together the turkey mixture, pasta, basil and ricotta cheese.  Spoon mixture into a greased 13×9 inch pan.

6) Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese evenly over the pasta mixture.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and browned and the mixture is heated through.

I’m Back! Plus Crock Pot Turkey Chili May 31, 2009

Hello again!  It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  I bet you almost forgot about me, didn’t you?

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I last posted.  I feel terrible!  In my defense, I haven’t actually cooked almost anything this past month.  It’s not like I’ve been cooking these fabulous things and just not sharing.

This past month has been, well, stressful.  I managed to get sick, break up with my boyfriend, take all of my finals, and decide to move to a city I’ve never lived in before all in the space of about a week.  Not my best week, obviously.  Needless to say, I was a bit stressed.  I didn’t really eat anything that entire week.  Like literally, there were a few days when I would be getting ready for bed and realize “oh, I didn’t eat dinner.  Wait, or lunch.  Uh-oh, or breakfast!”  And even when I did eat, it was either pre-made TV dinners or cereal.  I couldn’t really bring myself to cook anything.  I feel like I lost my cooking mojo for a bit, but luckily I’m starting to recover.

I moved to Kalamazoo for the summer to live with my little sister.  It was an incredibly last-minute decision, but so far I’m really happy with it.  We get along surprisingly well when my parents aren’t around, haha.  My friend Jen also lives in Kalamazoo, and she had me over for a little cooking extravaganza.  She usually tries to cook a ton of food in advance  and then freezes it, so her and her husband don’t have to cook a lot during the week, and so her husband eats something other than beef jerkey and crackers when she’s off in Big Rapids during the week taking classes.

I had so much fun cooking with Jen!  Her house (and especially her kitchen) is absolutely gorgeous, and I was so excited to finally get to see it!  It was nice to get back in the kitchen and actually cook.  We made three entrees, all of which I’ll be posting, the first of which being turkey chili in the crock pot.  I’m ashamed to admit that I walked out of her house without actually having tasted anything, but from what I’ve heard from Jen and Frankie, everything was delicious.  I can tell you that at the very least, everything smelled amazing as it was cooking!

Everyone, meet Jen!  She’s very enthusiastically browning the ground turkey for the chili.  Also, isn’t the backsplash in her kitchen really pretty?

This is a really great recipe for chili that I will definitely be making sometime in the near future.  I love that it uses the crock pot, because it frees up so much time that you would normally be spending standing by the stove, stirring the chili on the stovetop.  With this recipe, you chuck everything in the crock pot, turn it on, and then let it be.  It’s awesome.

With chili, I’ve found that it’s really important to taste often as you’re adding spices.  Everyone likes their chili a certain way, and you’ll never know if it tastes right to you if you don’t, well, taste it!  We started by adding about half of the spices that the recipe calls for, and then tasting and adding more as we saw fit.  If I remember correctly, we increased the amount of cumin and cayenne pepper to about 1 teaspoon each to fit Jen’s tastes. Also, this makes a TON of chili.  It completely filled up Jen’s extra large crock pot, so if you only have a normal sized crock pot (and unfortunately I don’t know the volumes of each, but you can see the size of Jen’s from the picture below) I would recommend halving the recipe, or making it in batches.

Crock Pot Turkey Chili

Adapted from:  Allrecipes.com

1 1/2 tsp. olive oil

1 lb. ground turkey

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 c. water

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp. garlic, minced

2 tbsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or less, depending on your tastes)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the ground turkey and cook until it’s no longer pink.  Place the turkey in the crock pot.

2) Add all other ingredients into the crock pot and mix well.  If desired, start by adding only half of all the spices, and then adjust to reach the flavor that you like.

3) Turn the crock pot on high and cook for 2-3 hours.

Crispy Onion Chicken April 17, 2009

I am so glad that it’s Friday.  Three weeks and counting until I’m done with my first year of pharmacy school.  I can’t even begin to wrap my head around all of the things I need to do before the end of the semester.  So, if my posts are a little sparse for the next three weeks or so, you know why!

I made this chicken last night and was really surprised at how good it was.  I’ve had this recipe forever, but never got around to making it…I always found something that seemed more interesting.   This has very few ingredients, but those few ingredients really pack a punch.  The flavor is fabulous.  It’s salty and crunchy and a little bit tangy.   Even better, this uses mostly basic ingredients so you’re likely to already have everything in the house to make it.  It comes together really quickly, and would be perfect for dinner on a weeknight.

Like usual, I’ve written the recipe for 1 serving, but this can be easily increased to however many servings you want.

Crispy Onion Chicken

Makes: 1 serving

1 tbsp. butter, melted

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 c. french fried onions, crushed

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1) In a medium sized bowl, combine the melted butter, Worcestershire, garlic powder, pepper and Dijon mustard.

2) Place the french fried onions in a shallow dish or a plate.

3) Dredge the chicken breast in the butter mixture, covering well.  Then dip the chicken breast into the onions, making sure it’s well-covered.

4) Place the chicken breast on a greased baking sheet.  Top with remaining sauce and onions.

5) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and onions are crisp and browned.

Panko Crusted Chicken with Sour Cream Chive Sauce March 16, 2009

I can’t believe it’s been almost two weeks since I last posted!  I have a good excuse though — this past week was spring break.  My boyfriend and I went on a road trip to Nashville, Tennessee.  It was a ton of fun!  We stayed at the Opryland Hotel, which if you’ve never heard of it, is this absolutely HUGE hotel that’s made to look like a rainforest.  There are real, living tropical flowers and trees all over, and the entire place is kept at relatively warm and humid to emulate the rainforest.  There were about 7 different restaurants and 3 or 4 bars in the hotel alone, a ton of interesting shops and even a nightclub!

It was a pretty long drive from here to Nashville (about 8 hours), but we managed it quite well!  On the way back we stopped in Kentucky to visit my aunt and uncle, who have a gorgeous house out in the country, complete with two of the most adorable dogs ever.

But now I’m back to the real world of school and studying.  I love traveling, but it is kind of nice to be home.

This is a dish that I adapted from a Cooking Light recipe in their October 2008 issue.  It was originally for pork chops, but I’m not a huge fan of pork…in the chop form, at least.  I’ve tried it both with pork chops and chicken, and I definitely prefer it with chicken.  I thought the combination of seasonings in the flour coating sounded a little strange at first, but it really works.  And the sauce is fantastic.  I could put it on just about everything.  It’s creamy, it’s tangy and it has just the right of onion flavor. I’ve used both chives and green onions in the sauce, and I didn’t really notice any change in taste.

Panko bread crumbs are from Japan and they’re a lot chunkier than regular bread crumbs.  They make a fantastic coating on meat because they’re very crispy.  I usually find panko in the Japanese section of the international aisle of my grocery store, but they might also be near the regular bread crumbs.

Panko Crusted Chicken with Sour Cream Chive Sauce

Adapted from: Cooking Light

Makes: 2 chicken breasts, and about 1/2 c. sauce

1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

dash cayenne pepper (to taste)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 egg white

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 c. panko bread crumbs

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-3 tbsp. olive oil

Sauce:

4 tbsp. sour cream

1 tbsp. mayonnaise

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

2-3 tbsp. chives, finely chopped

1-3 tbsp. milk

salt and pepper to taste

1) In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper.

2) In another medium sized bowl, beat the egg white and soy sauce.

3) Place the panko in a third medium sized bowl (I used cereal bowls for this, but you can also use plates if that’s what you’ve got laying around)

4) Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a frying pan.

5) Dredge the chicken breasts first in the flour mixture, then the egg white mixture, then cover with panko.  Press the panko into the chicken to make sure it’s nicely coated.

6) Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and cook about 2 minutes on each side, until well browned.  If the chicken is not cooked through, transfer to a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until fully cooked.

7) For the sauce, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, red wine vinegar and chives.  Add enough milk to reach the desired consistency (I liked mine kind of thick, so I only added 1 tbsp.  If you want it to be more saucy, add more milk.)  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meatballs! January 26, 2009

Spaghetti and meatballs is usually my standard whenever I go to an Italian restaurant.  I’ve been trying to branch out a little lately and expand my culinary horizons, but I’m kind of a picky eater.  I’m willing to try just about anything once, but when it comes to some normal, everyday ingredients, I’ll only eat them in certain ways.  Take tomatoes, for instance.  I love ketchup and tomato soup, but I won’t touch the raw fruit unless it’s on nachos.  Why nachos?  I have no idea.  I’m also really picky about cheese.  I LOVE cheese, but really only by itself.  Sharp cheddar cheese sticks are probably my most favorite snack, but when it comes to cheese actually in things, I rarely like it.  I don’t like cheese on sandwiches, or in pasta, which brings us back to my difficulty with Italian restaurants.  Cheese manicotti?  Not so much.  Cheese ravioli?  Mmm, no.  Of course there are plenty of other things that I’ve tried and absolutely loved, so not all is lost!  And now that I’ve mastered the art of making meatballs at home, I’ll probably move on to something more interesting next time I go out.

I really, really like these meatballs.  I like the slight hint of heat that the cayenne gives to it, and the salty richness from the Parmesan.  I like grating the onion so there’s no chunks in the meatballs, but I’ve made them both ways and the overall taste isn’t any different.  I’ve kept these pretty simple, but you can go crazy with all the different things you can put in these, if you feel like it.  Maybe a little garlic powder, dried parsley, basil, or oregano would be delicious, too.

Meatballs!

Source: me!

Makes: about 30 small meatballs

1 lb. ground beef (I recommend using the leanest possible)

1/2 of a small onion, grated or finely minced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp. onion salt

pinch of cayenne pepper (or more if you like the heat!)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 egg

1/4 – 1/2 c. Italian breadcrumbs

1) In a large bowl, break up the ground beef with a spoon.

2) Add in the onion, garlic, onion salt, cayenne, salt, pepper and egg.  Mix until well blended.

3) Add in enough breadcrumbs to make the mixture dry enough so that you can easily roll them into balls without sticking too badly to your hands.  (I used just a little over 1/4 c.)

4) Roll into balls of desired size (mine were about 1.5 inches in diameter), remembering that they will shrink as they cook.  Place meatballs onto a greased cookie sheet (for easy cleanup, cover the cookie sheet in tinfoil, and then grease the foil)

5) Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from the oven and flip all of the meatballs so that they’ll brown evenly.  Bake for an additional 10-20 minutes, until no longer pink in the middle.

Chicken Parmesan January 15, 2009

Sometimes I really just crave pasta.  Which is weird, because not too many years ago, I didn’t like pasta at all.  I can remember whining up a storm every time my parents wanted to go out to an Italian restaurant because I “didn’t like anything there!”  But now, what can I say?  I’m still not a huge fan of cream-based sauces, but give me a good marinara and I’m sold.

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.  The chicken is tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, with the right amount of salty cheesiness.  It’s fantastic, especially paired with some angel hair and marinara.  And even better, this is super easy and fast to make.  I made this from start to finish in about 25 minutes!  I’m going to give the recipe in amounts for two people, but this can easily be halved for one (like I did), or increased to as many servings as you want.  There’s nothing in this recipe that needs exact measurements, so feel free to add or take away as you see fit.

Chicken Parmesan

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 c. Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/4 c. flour

1 egg, beaten

3-4 tbsp. olive oil

pasta, whatever kind and in whatever amount you like (I used about 2 oz. of capellini)

1-2 c. marinara sauce (I’m a huge fan of Prego)

Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl (I used a cereal bowl).

Place the flour in another medium sized bowl.

Place the beaten egg in a third medium sized bowl.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then add the pasta.

Place the olive oil in a pan over medium heat, until the oil is very hot and smoking slightly.

While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken breast in flour so that it’s lightly covered, then soak in egg mixture.  Dredge the chicken breast in the Parmesan and breadcrumb mixture, making sure that it’s thoroughly coated.

Place the chicken breast into the pan.  Let it sit for 30 seconds to one minute, until nicely browned, then flip and cook the other side until nicely browned as well.  Repeat with the other chicken breast, or do them both at the same time if you have a frying pan big enough to fit them.

Note: I always use relatively thin chicken breasts, so mine are always cooked through by the time both sides have browned.  For thicker chicken breasts, once both sides have browned, transfer them to a greased baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until the breasts are cooked through.

Once the pasta is done, strain it, then place it back into the pot and add the marinara sauce.  The residual heat from the pan and pasta should be enough to warm the sauce, but you can also put the pan back on the heat for a few seconds.

Place the pasta onto a plate, and top with the sliced chicken breast.