Chicken Parm

  I’m going to tell yall a secret that might get me kicked out of the Italian grandma’s club, I despise chicken parmesan. I told you about my texture issues well crispy/crunchy and any kind of smothering sauce shouldn’t go together in my book, but I know there’s more than a few of yall that have a deep love for it so I’m going to show you the simple trick to make a to die for chicken parmesan.

  Honestly, it’s not that serious I normally get the sauce on the side so I can enjoy the food as well as keep my stomach from turning. This is another Pete story well honestly because I got an email from an old friend from Louisville and it’s making me super nostalgic, so here we are. This was another Saturday and Sunday morning brunch option that sold out almost every week, and if it didn’t it’d be gone by Monday afternoon because we would all come in fighting for them. We had to bulk up for mangia Monday, but that’s a different story time in and of itself. Anyways, little Nicky always got to be the one to beat the chicken breast into the right side, but I think that’s just because he found the hammer first. Well, he had to make at least 2 sheet pans a week, but we never heard anything bad from him about it. He also was the best fry and pizza cook we had.

  The right size is uniform across the whole chicken breast and generally about an inch thick so it’s a quick fry. Then comes most of the reason I wanted to become a chef, dredging/breading the chicken in a flour egg wash and breadcrumb bath so that the chicken doesn’t shrivel up and it acts almost like armor to protect the food from burning. Starting with the flour you add salt pepper and Italian seasoning and whisk together. The next plate scramble like an egg or two for each of the breasts and id put a splash of milk or water to help the scrambling process. The last plate will hold the breadcrumbs now I like to go a little fancy in these because by themselves breadcrumbs are very bland. I do salt pepper and Italian seasoning but then I take it up a notch by adding parmesan in there too so that it drives the flavor home. Now the key to this whole time coming together is making sure everything sticks. Submerge the chicken into each of the breading steps but knock off the excess flour dripping the egg wash dry patting the breadcrumbs into the egg wash and waiting 30 minutes and putting that chicken in the refrigerator to set up before you fry it otherwise your hard work is going to fall right off and burn in the fryer. Set your fryer at 350 degrees or put like 2 cups of oil in your cast iron skillet or whatever pan you’re using and heat until bubbles form around a wooden spoon when you stick the end in; almost like it’s starting to cook.  Gently lay the chicken in the pan and make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Cook for 4 minutes on each side and serve how your comfortable. I melt some mozzarella on top of mine and dip in some marinara sauce. Side note it’s called pomodoro in Italy.

Anyways, if you have questions, comments, concerns or an idea for the next blog please either email me or comment below. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and yall are amazing! Be Blessed!