Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fried Chicken

I can get my men to do just about anything for something chicken fried. Venison is they Monkey's favorite. Manly prefers chicken fried steak or fried chicken. If you have ever made fried chicken, you know what a kitchen trashing, time devouring undertaking it is. Manly wanted chicken for dinner, so I stopped off after work and bought Chicken Express instead of making it myself. There was a major monkey celebration over that box of chicken. One even said he loved me "more."

One type of fried chicken you can't buy at a speedy chicken joint is Italian fried chicken. I will share the recipe below. If you would like you can Italian fry an eggplant and it is very nice as well.

Chicken breast sliced or pounded very thin, think cutlets.
Fresh bread crumbs (soft)
Garlic 2 cloves per two slices of bread to make bread crumbs
Herbs 1 tablespoon dry for each 2 slices of bread used to make bread crumbs or 1/4 cup fresh per two slices or bread used for bread crumbs, or just wing it.
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Sea salt to taste
Egg white
1/4 cup water
Vegetable oil

I use my food processor to make the fresh breadcrumbs combining processing the herbs with the bread. Mix water and egg white. Dip chicken breast in egg mixture and coat with bread crumbs. Press the breadcrumbs firmly on the chicken breasts. Fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Serve over pasta with pesto sauce

Pesto
1 cup fresh basil leaves (lemon basil is my favorite)
4 cloves garlic
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup olive oil

Process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Add more oil if the sauce is too thick or more cheese if it is too thin.

Enjoy.