Chicken Parmesan.

I should've posted this last week when I made this dish, but last week was a crazy week. And that's an understatement. But anyway, that week is over thankfully, and I can get back to cooking and such! So here we go: Chicken Parmesan. This recipe is a little strange and was concocted about a year and a half ago after my bosses had a party at the house. They got catering and really liked the Chicken Parmesan that Ms. T made (the caterer). A week after the party, one of my bosses asked me to make Chicken Parm, and I said "sure," thinking that he'd have a recipe for me. But he didn't. And then he left. So I rummaged through some cookbooks, and I ended up with bits from here and there. I put those bits together, and now it's one of the kids' favorite dishes.

I like fresh ingredients. And I normally make my own bread crumbs and use fresh parsley (which they usually have at the house). But when they neither have bread nor fresh parsley lying around, I make do. So for part one, you need chicken (I used thighs, it's what they had; rinsed and dried), about a cup of plain breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, butter, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, a big clove of garlic, and about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley (preferably fresh). NO SALT.

Combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and the parsley in a bowl.

I totally skipped a big part of this process where you mince the garlic, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the Worcestershire sauce, slowly dump the Dijon mustard while whisking the whole thing, and then letting it all cool for a minute or two without letting the whole thing harden. Dump the mixture into the bowl of chicken and make sure everyone gets coated nicely. Then take each thigh, and one at a time coat both sides with the breadcrumb mixture. I usually take the leftover breadcrumbs and pour them on top; they make the crunchy layer extra thick. Now pop 'em in the oven at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

While that's baking, I usually make the sauce and the noodles (if you're making this with noodles). Oddly enough, the kids don't eat this with noodles. They just have salad with it. That's fine too. Anyway, whether or not you're cooking noodles, you've got plenty of time to spare. So, for the sauce I usually use: olive oil, a small piece of butter, some diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, a small onion, minced garlic cloves, about a teaspoon of sugar, salt & pepper, and oregano (sometimes I use basil, and other times both).

Cook the onions in olive oil and the piece of butter until they're soft and clear. Add the garlic. Then add the tomatoes and let it simmer awhile, until their really soft and mushy. Add the sugar. Then add the spices. Mix and mush any unmushed tomatoes. Finally, add the tomato sauce, mix, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes or until it looks like spaghetti sauce from a bottle. :)

Check out the purple flame.

Those tomaotes still need to be mushed.

Here's the finished product. I like to set a bowl aside to pour over the chicken, then mix the rest of the sauce with the noodles.

Here's the cooked chicken. Golden brown.

And it should look something like this (without noodles).

Or like this (with noodles).

Top with parsley and some Parmesan cheese and you're good to go!

Thanks to Mrs. O for letting me use her lovely, Williams-Sonoma pasta bowls.

P.S. Here is the recipe for the soup featured in the Comfort Soup post. Thanks to Mrs. O for the link! Try it. Love it.