we have returned...

you may have noticed we've been on a slight hiatus. long story short, brandon broke his hand. therefore, there's been little motivation to update. that and because after cooking and washing dishes, i get lazy and don't want to do anything remotely involving work.

anyway, there are several recipes to post. lets begin, shall we...

okay, so...lets just get this out there. i don't like cheese. i really don't. i used to. but now it just makes me kinda nauseous. brandon really likes cheese. so i feel bad once in a while because i never cook with cheese. parmesan chicken was my attempt to incorporate a bit of cheese into the cooking, because i was feeling particularly nice. it's like he knew i was going to cook with cheese. he came home with flowers for me. :)

the recipe is very easy, even for someone who has never breaded anything before (me). all you need is some chicken (duh), an egg, a little water, parmesan cheese, some flour and some breadcrumbs (i used italian style panko breadcrumbs...they were fantastic).

Preparation:

1. beat 1 egg with a tablespoon or so of water. you're going to have to put the chicken in it, so find a container/bowl/plate that will work for that.
2. mix 3/4 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan and spread out on a plate
3. mix 1/2 cup flour with some salt and pepper and spread out on a plate.
4. cut chicken into whatever size pieces you'd like. you can do the entire breast, strips, nuggets...pretty much whatever you want.

Coat each piece of chicken in flour, then in the egg mixture, and then in the breadcrumbs mixture. Once you've done this to each piece of chicken, heat up a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a pan until the butter melts and the olive oil is hot. place the chicken in the pan, and cook for a few minutes on each side. the smaller the pieces, the shorter the cooking time. make sure you watch your chicken though, you don't want to burn the breadcrumbs.

this dish goes really well with almost any kind of vegetable. i've made it with sauteed spinach, salad, etc. i decided to try roasted asparagus this time. heat oven to 350, drizzle olive oil over asparagus, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and cook for about 20-25 minutes. you can vary your cooking time depending on the texture you prefer.