Creating Chicken Milanese

Have you ever been to a restaurant, had something wonderful and thought “I wish I could make this at home?”  Last month Nan and Pop (my Mom and Dad) took us out to dinner after Lily and Emma’s dance concert.  We went to California Pizza Kitchen.  My Mom and Dad shared Chicken Milanese.  As we ate our dinners, my Dad said “I bet I could make this salad, I bet I could make it even better than this one…”  So a few weeks ago he rolled up his sleeves and figured out a recipe.

Here’s it is:

Dad’s Chicken Milanese

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
2 extra large eggs
1 Tbsp. water
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Arugula or 1 head of red leaf lettuce or bag of baby spinach
½ red onion sliced very thinly
½ cup toasted Pinenuts
½ cup tomatoes cut into bite sized pieces
Shaved Parmesan cheese for topping the salad
Serve with lemon slice on the side

Using a mallet (or a rolling pin or even a cup) pound chicken until it is about 3/8 inch thick. Salt and pepper chicken.  Prepare 3 pie plates, the first with flour,  in the second pie plate whisk together eggs with water.  In a third pie plate mix together grated Parmesan and bread crumbs.
Dip your chicken into flour.  Shake.  Then dip into eggs, then into breadcrumbs.
Heat butter and olive in a skillet over medium to medium low heat.  Cook chicken for 3-4 minutes a side until browned and cooked through.
Place cooked chicken on individual plates and top with salad.

Red Wine Vinaigrette:
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together ingredients until emulsified.

Here’s a step by step:

1.  Toast Pinenuts over medium high heat until golden brown.  Pour into bowl to stop the cooking.

2.  Place a piece of plastic wrap beneath and a piece above a boneless skinless chicken breast and using a mallet, rolling pin or cup pound out chicken to 3/8 – 1/2 inch thickness.  Keep refrigerated until ready to cook.

3.  Cut red onion in half.  Remove skin, then thinly slice.

4. Cut up tomatoes.  I love grape tomatoes.  They are not quite ripe in my garden yet and I can’t wait!

5.  This lettuce is from my garden and it is delicious.  (Lettuce is amazingly better when it is just picked.  And it is so easy to grow.  It won’t last much longer in this heat, but at least I can plant more in the fall.)  Wash, dry and tear it into bite sized pieces.

6.  Whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette.

8.  Prepare three pie plates.  In the first place flour.  In the second, whisk two eggs with 1 tablespoon of water.  In the last, mix together breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese.  (The Parmesan cheese isn’t traditional with this dish either, but it adds a lot.)

9.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Then dip into flour and coat well, shake off excess.  (If you want you can add the salt and pepper directly to the flour.)

10.  Dip chicken into egg.

11.  Dip chicken into breadcrumb mixture.

10.  In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. olive oil.  Cook chicken over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

11.  Slice chicken in wide strips.  Place on dinner plates.

Traditional Chicken Milanese calls for Arugula (which I love)  But my arugula has gone overly bitter in the heat and store bought is pretty expensive.  I had this wonderful lettuce, so that’s what I used.  My dad prefers baby spinach both for flavor and for it’s general healthiness.

12.  Top with lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, pinenuts.  Drizzle a small amount of vinaigrette over top.  Then using a potato peeler, shave Parmesan cheese over the top.

Serve with a italian loaf, garlic bread, or a baguette.  I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I do.  Buon Appetito.