Chicken Parmigiana

This is one of the few recipes I decided to make during the last months of school drudgery. I wasn't cooking much back then, so I needed something simple but tasty. In a salute to all these great recipes I've tried lately after convincing myself it was okay to cook crowd pleasers instead of gourmet flops, I settled on Parmesan chicken.

As you can imagine, I was a little too busy to take pictures. Well, honestly I was too hungry, but you get the idea. Anyways, I whipped up some Bobby Flay chicken parm with a little salad and it was dinner ahoy! Of course, looking back on it, they were tasty. However, it I ever make them again, I think I'd replace the bread crumbs with just straight Parmesan cheese. They weren't quite cheesy enough as is. Also, I might end up adding more sauce because it tasted a whole lot better smothered in rich tomatoes. Otherwise, nothing to complain about here.

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
4 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water and seasoned with salt and pepper
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup vegetable oil or pure olive oil
Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Fresh basil or parsley leaves, for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

--Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge each breast in the flour and tap off excess, then dip in the egg and let excess drip off, then dredge on both sides in the bread crumbs.

--Divide the oil between 2 large saute pans and heat over high heat until almost smoking. Add 2 chicken breasts to each pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet and top each breast with some tomato sauce, a few slices of the mozzarella, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of Parmesan. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with basil or parsley leaves.

If you follow the link to his recipe on the Food Network, he also lists his recipe for the tomato sauce. I have to admit that I cheated and bought bottled sauce. Still just as tasty but much quicker and less cleanup.

Eggnog Cupcakes

Oh, Christmas was hectic this year. I was trying to graduate, trying to job search, and trying to move. Needless to say, the Christmas baking was severly limited. In fact, no actual homemade goods were given. Period. It hurt my heart a little bit.

Still, goaded on by the lusciousness that is Starbuck's eggnog latte, I wanted more eggnog in my life. Once I found this recipe for eggnog cupcakes on the baking bites site, I knew I had to try them right that second.

Picture? No. My camera was mostly MIA for that whole time period. I can say that they were good though. Let's discuss: the cupcakes were supposed to be vegan. Well, I used real eggnog, so they weren't anymore. Since the recipe used vegan substitutes though, they weren't as moist on top as normal. They almost had a chewy quality on the top. The real downer was the frosting. Her recipe looked great and I bet it would have tasted that way. However, I used butter that had been subjected to my refrigerator for way too long, hence the frosting tasted like eggnog and the hell that is my fridge. Not so tasty. Alas.

However, next year I think I'll try them again and maybe even get to enjoy them. If you'd like to try, here's the link. I wish you fresh buttery joy.

Also, I've added a word verification setting for post comments. I've been seeing a huge increase in spam. I hope this doesn't deter anyone from leaving me a message or talking with other readers.

Banana Bread: No Mixer Needed

There are several recipes backed up that I wanted to write about first. However, I've had this blogging malaise settle over me and can't quite seem to get my fingers moving to type them up. However, however, I've got three bananas that won't wait any longer to either be baked or explode. So banana bread it is.



If you've been with me for a while, you'll have noticed that while it's not one of my favorites, banana bread just keeps getting made. I've tried quite a few recipes in the past, but here's another one. Simply Recipes is a good go-to blog for nearly no-fail recipes. Plus, since I'm in a temporary residence, this doesn't require a mixer which *sob* is packed.

After a very stupid flour argument which went basically like this: "I don't have enough flour! Wait, maybe I do. No, it won't make it" then of course I ran to the store, picked up a bag, and "Oh shit, I did have enough." Aside from that, it was very easy to put together. I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup as suggested and added half a bag of chocolate chips that needed to be used.

The result? Very tasty. I overbaked, so it was a little harder than I like on the edges, but nothing that would stop me from eating every tiny piece. Excuse the crap photo below, I'm rusty.