Websites

When it comes to finding a new recipe, or trying to "fix up" and old one, I usually get out my computer and head to a few tried and true cooking websites that I have found and enjoy! I thought I would share...

All Recipes

Taste of Home

Food.com

I use All Recipes and Taste of Home all the time and really enjoy reading the reviews the readers post. It gives me good ideas on what to do with my meals.

Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

I am not a real picky eater. I'll eat most things out there, or at least try it. There are a few things however that I am picky about the way it is cooked. Chicken Parmesan is one of them. I really like the flavor and the idea of chicken parm. However, I do not like ordering it at restaurants. Most restaurants pan fry their chicken, I'm just not a fan of that. I would rather have it baked.

Although baking has it's downfall...I do like my chicken to have a "crunch" coating...not "crispy." Yes, there is a difference. It has taken many attempts and many different recipes to finally find the chicken parmesan recipe that I really really like!

So here's what I do...

I don't know the exact measurements since I "eyeball" most everything and this recipe has basically come from experimentation!

~4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves pounded into equal thickness (I used to skip this step, but it actually makes a big difference)

~1/2 cup flour seasoned with garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper

~2 eggs w/ salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I like garlic and hate it when my chicken is not well seasoned!)

~3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs w/ some help: garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I've used fresh and the stuff in the green can...both are fine, although the fresh definitely has better flavor)

I pat dry my chicken breasts and lightly cover them in the flour. From the flour I dip the chicken in the egg. The flour before the egg is a very helpful trick I've learned to help the egg really stick to the slippery chicken. This will help your batter/coating/whatever to stick to the chicken MUCH better. Then I coat the chicken in the bread seasoning mixture and set aside.

Once all the chicken is coated I take a 9x13 pan and I put in it either a cookie cooling sheet or some type of broiling rack. On that rack, I place the chicken. This is how I get that "crunchy" chicken. This allows air to get to the bottom of the chicken. If you just put it in the pan the coating will end up soggy on the bottom. I bake that in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes.

While that's baking I have out another baking dish (9x13 or whatever you want to use) and I put just a little spaghetti sauce on the bottom (I use Ragu). After the chicken comes out of the oven I put it in the sauce and top it with a little more spaghetti sauce and put it back in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.

After the 12 minutes I pull it back out again and top each piece of chicken with provolone cheese. I love the flavor of Provolone with Chicken Parm...so good! I then put the chicken back in the oven for a few minutes to sit under the broiler...be careful...it will melt very quickly. Pay attention to that!

When it's all done you have wonderfully flavored, crunchy (not crispy), baked Chicken Parmesan. Pair it with some nice spaghetti noodles or veggies and a glass of wine...YUMMY!

Enjoy!