Lemon and Parmesan Breaded Chicken Cutlet with Roast Potatoes and Nutmeg'd Spinach

My apologies for the wordy title! I swear I'm not putting on airs.

If I was pressed to name one, I would say that this is currently my favorite dinner. The spinach takes about 3 minutes to cook, while the chicken and potatoes involve very little heavy kitchen labor. The final creation is almost effortlessly satisfying and tasty. It's not haute cuisine, but I love it on a Monday night.

The chicken is a basic breaded chicken cutlet, jazzed up a bit with lemon zest and Parmesan cheese. The roast potatoes are how I make them when I have no fresh herbs on hand--very rushed weeknight, dahhhling. I got the preparation for the spinach from the vegetable chapter of Delia Smith's How to Cook. If you've never seen it, she lists almost every vegetable that you can buy in the grocery store and gives a couple of ideas for simple ways to prepare them. It's a great resource for the days when you don't care how, you just want to get a vegetable on the table.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

3 medium russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 - 3/4 inch dice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 10-ounce bag of washed and trimmed spinach leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Olive oil
Salt and pepper

You should start the potatoes first, since they take the longest to cook. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the cut-up potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle some olive oil over them--anywhere from 1 to 2 tablespoons. Season well with salt and pepper and sprinkle the dried thyme on top, making sure to rub it between your finger tips while doing so to release its herb-i-ness. Using clean hands, toss the potatoes with the oil and seasonings, making sure all pieces are coated. Bake for 20 minutes, then take the baking sheet out. Using a sturdy spatula, toss the potatoes around so they brown evenly. Bake for another 20 minutes.

You will need two dinner plates and a pie plate (or cake pan) for coating the chicken cutlets. Place the flour on one plate and sprinkle in about 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss with a fork to distribute the seasonings. On the other plate, spread out the breadcrumbs. Using your finger tips, toss the lemon zest and Parmesan through the breadcrumbs. Crack open the egg in the pie plate. Add about a tablespoon of water to the egg and whisk lightly but thoroughly.

Cover the chicken breast pieces with a piece of plastic wrap and pound to a uniform thickness. (Note: the world will not end if you skip this step--it just helps the chicken to cook evenly) Take off the plastic wrap. In a large skillet, warm up 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. One at a time, dip the chicken pieces first in the flour, shaking off excess. Coat with the egg, and then press the chicken into the breadcrumbs, using your fingers to help them adhere to the egg. Lay the chicken in the skillet and let cook for about 4 or 5 minutes on the first side, 3 minutes on the other side. Times will vary based on the thickness of the chicken and the heat of your pan. The chicken is cooked when it feels unyielding to the touch. Set the chicken pieces on a paper towel-lined plate to blot off the excess oil.

For the spinach, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot over high heat. Throw in the spinach leaves, season with salt, and cover the pot. After one minute, uncover the pot and stir the spinach around, getting the unwilted pieces on top to the bottom. Cover and let cook for another minute. When all of the spinach is totally wilted, remove it to a colander. Press down on the spinach with a wooden spoon to drain the excess water out of it. Put the spinach back in the pot and season with a little more salt, some pepper, and the nutmeg. Stir to distribute the seasonings and let the spinach sit in the warm pot for a minute or so.

Plate and serve! It's nice with a bit of fresh lemon juice squeezed on the chicken and spinach, but it's not mandatory.


Rating: This is awesome

You know how I feel--this is an excellent basic, hunger-killing dinner.

Rosemary Roast Chicken and Potatoes

I love having roast chicken with potatoes for a weeknight dinner that feels like a feast. As long as you're not too ravenous to wait out the cooking time, it's very easy to put together and low stress. You can't help feeling like royalty when you have a bronzed bird like this to carve up:
I decided to flavor this one with some of the leftover rosemary I had from Monday night's cacciatore. I always make a baking sheet full of potatoes when I roast a chicken, too. I didn't bother with a "real" vegetable this time, but sometimes I'll olive-oil-and-salt a panful of cut up broccoli and stick it in the oven to cook while the chicken is having its post-roast rest. It only needs 10 to 15 minutes.

1 whole chicken, giblets removed, weighing around 4 pounds (preferably at room temperature, but this isn't always possible on a week night)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (I place it on my counter before I leave for work in the morning to soften it)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped and divided
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 whole sprigs of fresh rosemary
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.5 - 2 pounds russet potatoes, unpeeled, cut into roughly 1/2" dice

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F and place your chicken breast-side up in a roasting pan. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, 1 tablespoon of rosemary, the celery salt, and a drop of olive oil. Carefully massage the butter mixture under the skin of the bird's breasts and thigh joints. You can see in the picture above where the butter ended up on my chicken--it's the darker brown patches of skin.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil oven the chicken to help the skin crisp in the oven. Season the entire bird liberally with salt and pepper. Place the whole sprigs of rosemary in the chicken's cavity. Roast for 70 minutes, or 15 minutes per pound, plus 10 minutes overall. This is Nigella's method from How to Eat, and it hasn't failed me yet!

Once the chicken is in the oven, commense with chopping the potatoes. Spread them out in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet (aka, cookie sheet), and drizzle with a few glugs of olive oil. Sprinkle over the rest of the chopped rosemary and a couple of teaspoons of salt. With clean hands toss the potatoes to evenly coat with the oil and seasonings. Place the pan of potatoes in the oven when the chicken has about 50 minutes left. About halfway through their cooking time, toss the potatoes with a sturdy plastic spatula to ensure that you don't end up with any burned pieces.

When the cooking time is finished, remove the chicken from the oven. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer, or pierce one of the thighs with a knife tip to make sure the juices run clear. Remove the rosemary sprigs and leave the bird to sit for about 15 minutes. While annoying, this step is necessary for the meat to re-absorb its juices before you cut into it. Take out the potatoes and place in a covered bowl to keep warm while the chicken rests.

I'm not a very good carver; when it's just Wei and I eating, I will cut the chicken into quarters only, since he'll eat the dark meat and I'll eat the white. This is my method: place the chicken on a large cutting board. Bring your knife down cleanly through the thigh joint, releasing the leg quarter. For the white meat, slide your knife vertically along the breast bone. Cut the breast meat into 5 or 6 widthwise "chunks" once it's off of the carcass. Eating the crunchy, salty skin from the breast is a must for me, so I try to keep it attached while I'm carving. Pile up your plate with the meat of your choice and some of the potatoes. For a cook's treat, don't forget to flip the bird over and pluck out the chicken oysters from the back for yourself!

Rating: This is awesome

I like to pull any leftover meat off the carcass into strips and stash it in the fridge to use for some other delicious preparation later in the week. I'm partial to chicken quesadillas, but the possibilities are endless. I also break up the chicken bones and leave them in the freezer to make stock once I have 3 carcasses saved up.

Almond Encrusted Chicken Cutlets with Rice Pilaf

I was watching Food Network on one of the mornings last weekend. I saw Rachael Ray make these chicken cutlets, and I thought they looked pretty yummy. I gave them a try last night, making my own little changes to the recipe.

They did not turn out great. If you want to try making this, I suggest you use her method, because mine obviously didn't work. I can't say if hers will be good, although the picture on her website looks a LOT better than mine!

I will give the recipe for my rice pilaf, because that actually turned out well. I wasn't feeling the rice dish RR suggested, so I came up with my own.

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped (optional)
Olive oil

Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice and garlic, and keep stirring until each grain of rice is coated in the oily, oniony juices in the pan. Add the chicken broth and bring up to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and put a lid on top. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Check the rice after 15 minutes. If there's still liquid in the pan, give it a few more minutes simmering with the lid on. When all the liquid is gone, stir and fluff the rice and add the artichoke hearts if you're using them. Put the lid back on and let the pan sit for at least 10 minutes; 15-20 minutes is better if you can manage it.



Rating: This is Not Awesome for the chicken, This is Awesome for the rice!
I think I'm done with RR recipes for a little while. I declare that next week will be an RR-free zone!