Are you tough on your appliances? I am. Last year I think 5 appliances decided it was time to depart my company. Very sad, too expensive to replace as of yet, but manageable it seems. See these two appliances to the right? (Do they even class as appliances? In my world they do!) Well this is as technical as it gets in my kitchen at the moment. So I’m taking a leaf out of grandma’s book. Can’t say I recall seeing any fancy gadgets in her kitchen, or Aunty Lyndal’s (my grandfather’s sister). Actually, I think Aunty Lyndal may have had a Mix Master. Anyway, they still managed to turn out great food without any technical assistance, so I figure if they can do it, so can I (for a while anyway).
I grew up living either next door to, or within a couple of blocks of my extended family, so I spent a lot of time in their kitchens and at large family gatherings where everyone brought along a main dish and a dessert to form one big smorgasbord. Aunty Lyndal had the biggest house, so we had all of our gatherings there. The adults ate in the kitchen and the lounge, and the kids lined the halls with plates overflowing with fabulous food. I remember a lot about those years, but Nope! I don’t remember any fancy gadgets. Which is why I’m not really surprised that I’m surviving without them. Yes, I’d love a new food processor to make my fresh breadcrumbs in a second, but right now my hand-held grater is doing the job. And a mixer, I’d die for a new mixer, ooohhh, maybe even a KitchenAid. Now that would be exciting! But it’s not going to happen right now, so until it does, or I settle for something a lot cheaper, this old Tupperware balloon whisk is working just fine. And you should see the arm muscles! You’ll have to look closely, but when I’m whisking they’re definitely there.
This brings me to today’s recipe. It’s my Crumbed Chicken, the one I have been making and talking about for forever, but never sharing the recipe because I never take the time to measure out the ingredients and write them all down. But today I’ve decided to stop procrastinating and just give the round-abouts in the way of ingredients. And to be honest, I never measure them anyway, and you can tinker with them anyway to get it just the way you like it. It’s a never-fail recipe.
You can serve it so many ways:
Chop your chicken into fingers and serve at a party with dipping sauce.
Make a Chicken Burger
Slice diagonally and serve tossed through a salad
Smother in Creamy Peppercorn sauce and serve with veges
Top with Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella Cheese
Nuggets for the kids with veges or pasta on the side
However you decide to serve it, it’s yummy! And it freezes well, so double up your recipe and pop some into the freezer for one of those crazy nights that we all know are coming as we enter yet another school term.
Bek’s Crumbed Chicken
Ingredients:
3 Cups Freshly Grated Breadcrumbs
2-3 Cloves Garlic (We love Garlic, so I go for 4 Cloves)
1 Tbl Dried Basil, or about 1/2 cup freshly shredded Basil Leaves
1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
A little Freshly Cracked Black Pepper (watch this with the kids, they may not be as fussed as you are, and grind it well)
4 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts, trimmed and sliced to the size you want them
2 Eggs
1 Cup Plain Flour
Olive Oil
Directions
Combine the breadcrumbs, garlic, basil, parmesan, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk your eggs in a bowl large enough to dip your chicken pieces in, and place your flour in another bowl of the same size.
Line all three bowls up in a row.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
Coat each chicken piece, first in the flour, then dip in the egg, then toss in the breadcrumb mixture, then place in the heated pan with oil.
Do this with each chicken piece until all pieces are done. Don’t over-crowd the pan. You can cook a couple of batches if you need to.
Cook on one side until you can see it starting to crisp-up around the edges, then flip it over and cook the other side.
I like to test the chicken to see if it’s cooked by slicing open the thickest piece. If the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, it is done.
This really is our family’s most popular “Go-To” recipe, you can serve it so many different ways.
Happy Cooking!