Chicken Parmigiana, aka: Chicken Parm!

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As I’ve mentioned previously, I grew up in the Hudson Valley of NY. Although it was upstate, we had a lot of Italian joints, and it felt almost like everyone I knew either had Italian ancestry of some sort (including my mother), or cooked Italian dishes a lot. Essentially, the Hudson Valley felt like a little “Little Italy” to me.

My go-to dish at any local Italian restaurant back home was Chicken Parm. To this day, I judge ANY joint claiming to be Italian on their Chicken Parm. Sadly, here in the Austin area, most “Italian” restaurants don’t get it right. Whether it be the super acidic sauce, or the rubbery, soggy chicken cutlet, most of the ones I’ve tried have left me sad, or even pissed off. I had it one place where they lightly breaded a full sized chicken breast and fried it. They called that “Chicken Parmigiana”. I called them liars, and I now refuse to eat anything from there again.

I’d been itching for some Chicken Parm for awhile now, and my Father-in-Law was coming over for dinner last night, so I decided last night was the perfect time for it.

Here’s my way of making it. I’m not saying mine is the only way, but it’s in line with the traditional way of doing so…

What you’ll need for the chicken:

  • 2 lbs (approximately) of chicken breast
  • 1 cup of bread crumbs (I make my own… that’ll be another recipe)
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper in a grinder
  • 1/2 lb Low Moisture Whole Milk Mozzarella
  • Enough oil (of your choice) to coat the bottom of your favorite cast iron pan by about a 1/4 of an inch

What you’ll need for the sauce…

See my sauce recipe here: https://imhangryyall.com/2019/07/15/homemade-meatballs-and-sauce-with-italian-sausage/

Put the flour in its own flat, but somewhat wide and deep container. Do the same with the eggs (and the milk – mix them together), and then same with the bread crumbs. They all need to be in their own container. Season the flour with some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

I recommend getting two cooling racks. One for the prepped and breaded cutlets set up on for a few minutes before frying, and one for the fried cutlets to drain on.

Start slicing the chicken breasts in half, horizontally, and flattening them out gently. I stick one breast slice inside a gallon zip bag, leaving the zipper open. Then, I gently pound them out by starting in the center, and moving the kitchen mallet (or even small cast iron pan) out to the edge. You want to do this pretty gently. Don’t take all your aggression from a shitty day at work out on the chicken. Get them to be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.

Once the chicken has been sufficiently flattened and your preheated oil has reached about 350 F (177 C), place one cutlet in the flour and ensure it’s coated on each side, with no missed spots. I recommend doing one cutlet at a time here. After the flour has coated it, tap the chicken a little to get any loose flour off. Move the cutlet to the egg mixture and make sure it’s completely coated. Dusting the flour off previously will help to prevent spots where the egg doesn’t stick. Turn it over to get the opposite side. Let it drain a bit and them move the cutlet into the breadcrumbs. Lay it flat and press down gently to help the breadcrumbs stick well. Flip it over to get the other side well coated as well. Visually inspect both sides to make sure you have bread crumbs on every bit and there aren’t any bald spots.

Place each cutlet on the prep rack to let it set up a little before frying. Once each one has set for 3-5 minutes, place them gently in the hot oil, by laying them down away from you so you don’t get scalded by the spray. Let cook until the breading is medium brown. If the chicken is thin enough, it’ll be cooked through by the time the coating browns well. Take them out of the oil with some tongs or a big fork and set them on the rack ( which should be placed over a few layers of paper towels) to drain.

I place on a sheet pan after they’re drained and put in a 225 F (107 C) oven to keep them warm until it’s time to put the cheese on them.

Once you’ve fried all your cutlets, slice up some delicious low moisture, WHOLE MILK (not that part skim junk) Mozzarella (MOOTZ-uh-LEL where I come from) and top each one with the mozz. Stick under the broiler on low until the cheese is all bubbly and starts to brown.

Take them out of the oven and plate with some pasta and sauce.



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