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Chicken Milanese

Chicken Milanese

It's a simple classic that's been around since the 12th century - a pan fried butterflied chicken breast topped with a cool salad hat, which you can say brings some freshness and complexity, or simply call it a healthy endeavor.  You can use chicken, veal, pork...honestly, use whatever you want because it's your kitchen and you have an opinion based on your taste buds!

Ingredients

Note:  We like to eat organic so nearly everything in the recipe that can be, is organic!

1 cup of flour for dredging

2-3 eggs

1-2 cups of Italian or plain panko breadcrumbs for crust

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg (we grated with a microplane, but you can use powdered)

Pecorino Romano or Parm Reggiano (we used Parm Reg)

Arugula

Cherry or grape tomatoes

Capers (optional)

Balsamic glaze (homemade, but store-bought works, too)

Vinegar or Lemon Juice (we used White Wine Vinegar)

Extra Virgin olive oil

Ghee, Avocado Oil, or Butter (we used Ghee)

Preparation

Preheat oven to warm, or a very low temperature (170-200 degrees F)

Slice each piece of chicken in half horizontally, making sure not to go all the way through to create one large flat piece of chicken. Put chicken cutlet on cutting board and underneath a layer of wax paper or plastic wrap.  Pound with a mallet to desired thinness. The thinner the cutlet, the faster it will cook!

In a bowl, whisk eggs, and season with salt (and anything else you'd like to incorporate).

Place the flour in another dish and mix in some salt, pepper, and desired spices.  We went with white pepper, black pepper, and salt! Paprika is nice if you'd like a little bit of heat and some slight smokiness. You guys know about granulated onion and garlic powder? They're yummy. Express yourself!

Place the breadcrumbs in a third dish and season as you'd like. Oregano, garlic powder, paprika, and white pepper are our suggestions.

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken pieces, then dredge them 1 at a time in the flour, then quickly dunk both sides in the egg mixture and then coat both sides in the breadcrumbs. Finely grate some pecorino romano cheese onto each side of the chicken.

Place each piece aside on a plate until you're ready to cook them.

Heat a tablespoon of ghee and a tablespoon of olive oil (or any chosen oil) in a cast iron skillet. Heat on medium to medium high heat. The ideal frying temp is about 335 degrees F, but if you don't have a thermometer, you can test the readiness of the oil by throwing in a little pinch of flour or bread crumbs.

Add chicken cutlets and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side (depends on thickness) until done and then transfer the chicken to wire rimmed baking sheet, so it doesn't get soggy. Add the other tablespoon of ghee and oil to the skillet and cook the other piece of chicken.  A good thermometer is helpful here. You want to cook chicken to 165 degrees, but you can pull it at 160 degrees and the temperature continues to rise as it rests in the warm oven.

When your chicken is resting/warming in the oven, start on the salad.

Put about 3-4 cups of arugula in a mixing bowl with the quartered tomatoes. Using approximately a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar, spritz over the top of your salad and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss.

Add olive oil, and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss again.

Remove cooked cutlets from warm oven and place 1 piece of cooked chicken on each plate.n Top chicken with salad, and grade little ribbons of fresh aged parmesan reggiano on top.

Optional

Add capers, either freshly rinsed or fried (Meg hates them).

Drizzle a homemade balsamic reduction (garlic, balsamic vinegar, honey) or a quality store bought glaze or fancy aged balsamic over the entire plate of chicken (Meg loves this, and so does Fran, really).

Enjoy!

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