Friday, February 1, 2013

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA

I love chicken parmigiana.  Chances are when I am ordering from a menu in a restaurant, if chicken parmigiana is on the menu, that is what I order.

The other day I went to Wal-mart to get a few things I needed.  I wanted to get more chicken breast that I buy from them that are from range-free chickens and have no added hormones or antibiotics. The taste is so much better than other frozen chicken.  Anyway I hit upon a sale (the sell-by-date was the next day) and bought what I thought was 5 packages of chicken tenders.  I brought them home and repackaged them in serving sizes and froze them for another day.  

I said "what I thought was 5 packages" because when I was repackaging them, one of them wasn't chicken tenders but chicken filets.  

I have seen recipes where they say to take a boneless, skinless chicken breast and put it in a plastic bag or between wax paper and beat it until it is thin.  I personally have never done it, but I know people do.  

I was so excited when I saw the thin filets and immediately knew I wanted to find a recipe for chicken parmigiana.  The one I found in a Southern Living cookbook had eggplant between the cheeses or something.  I didn't have eggplant, never bought an eggplant.  SO I adjusted the recipe to what you see below.  I gave the recipe for 4 chicken filets, but you will only see 2 in my pictures because I was only making it for my husband and me.  I just reduced the ingredients so I wouldn't have a lot of bread crumbs to throw away. I didn't give amount for the cheeses because I just sprinkled on what was necessary to cover the chicken. 

When we finished dinner, I told my husband I couldn't tell that I hadn't gone out to eat.  I will definitely be cooking this again and the next time I go to Wal-mart, I will look and see if I find anymore of the filets.


CHICKEN PARMIGIANA

4        chicken filets
3/4     cup bread crumbs(I make my own)
1/2     teaspoon salt
1/4     teaspoon pepper
1        egg
spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine bread crumbs, salt, and pepper in bag or shallow pan like a pie plate. Beat egg and place in a shallow pan like a pie plate.

Dip each chicken filet in the egg mixture (both sides)

and then in the plate with the bread crumbs. Make sure it is coated completely on both sides with the crumbs.


Place coated chicken filets on a plate and chill for 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a skillet brown chicken in 1/4 cup hot canola oil over medium heat, turning once. (I heated the oil in my skillet and tested if it was hot by dropping just a few bread crumbs in the skillet.  If it starts cutting the crumbs immediately, it is ready for you to put the chicken filets in.  I cooked each side about 1 minutes....check and see if it is as brown as you want it.)



Remove chicken from skillet and place in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish that you have covered the bottom with parchment paper.  

Spoon spaghetti sauce over chicken

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. (Oops, I started to add the mozzarella cheese and remembered I hadn't taken a picture.)

cover with grated mozzarella cheese

and bake 5 more minutes or til cheese melts and sauce is bubbly.

Serve over cooked spaghetti (We added a little more spaghetti sauce first on the spaghetti before placing the cooked chicken on top)

Oops, I almost forgot the parsley

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