Daily Skiff

Media Credit: Chance Welch [Click to enlarge]

Sure, you've seen it done at the local Italian restaurant all the time, but have you tried recreating it at home? This chicken parmesan recipe is pretty simple and instead of forking over a lot of money to try to impress your date, you can showcase your cooking skills to wow and woo her. You can even have her join you in cooking the chicken. If all else fails, you can always call in a pizza and laugh about how you burnt the chicken to a crisp. This recipe serves two people, but if you add two more chicken cutlets, there are enough ingredients to add two more for a double date.

Brownie Points: You can add some more toppings to it like half a cup of black olives or even a garnish like a sprig of basil to go that extra mile. Another bonus is Panko bread crumbs instead of just the regular variety. Panko is a Japanese brand of toasted bread crumbs that is extremely crunchy and flavorful. It's worth the extra cash.

Ingredients

Breading Mixture:
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 egg whites (The clear stuff inside, not the yellow yolk.)
1 tablespoon water
1 cup olive oil

Chicken:
Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Toppings:
1 jar or can marinara sauce
¾ cup part shredded skim-milk Mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound spaghetti, cooked
6 cups water for spaghetti

Instructions

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the crumbs with the salt, pepper, paprika, basil and oregano. Add the flour.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites and water.

With a meat mallet or some other bludgeoning tool, pound the chicken until it's about ½ inch thick. This is so that it will fry better in the skillet.

Dip the chicken breasts in the egg mixture.

Dip the chicken in the flour and bread crumb mixture, let the extra flour on the chicken fall off.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Heat a medium-sized saucepan to medium high. When the oil starts to sizzle or become hazy, add the chicken. Fry the chicken for three and a half minutes on each side or until brown.

Set the two breasts (or four) in a baking dish and top with the marinara sauce and sprinkle the cheese over it.

Bake the chicken for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Spaghetti:

Cook the spaghetti by boiling it in a pan of 6 cups of water on a burner heated on high. Add a pinch of salt. Cook the pasta until it becomes "al dente." You can test it by taking out a strand and biting it. If it's soft and doesn't feel hard on your teeth, you're in the clear.

Pile the chicken on top of your spaghetti and voila!

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