Mason-Dixon Recipes

Chicken Parmigiana

We’re talking about chicken parmigiana and if there was a food hall of fame honoring Italian-American staples, it would be among the first inductees.

         — Paesana

Chicken Parmigiana dishes haven't been around that long, but in a short time its become a standard. Its been butterflied, beaten, dunked in sauces of different varieties, fried, stuffed in rolls, and it always comes out as something that tastes just like your mom made. So, how did this dish become a mainstay in restaurants, pizzerias, and home kitchens when it never made it onto plates in the Old World? The problem was, in old Italy, not everyone was entitled to eat chicken.

Chicken Parmigiana was one of the few dishes that benefited from immigration. This dish in particular probably originated during the 1500-1600s, but only the prosperous could afford to enjoy poultry. So it started out as eggplant parmigiana in a dish called melanzane alla Parmigiana.

No one is sure where the word "parmigiana" came from. Yet, with large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all sorts of inexpensive meats became available to them, chicken the least expensive. The popularity of chicken parmigiana soared in the post-World War II era. Before long, the dish was everywhere—even appearing on menus at restaurants that were not Italian.

INGREDIENTS

1 storage bag
1¹/₂ cup flour
1¹/₂ cup Panko bread crumbs
1¹/₂ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
3 whole eggs
2 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Butterfly the chicken breasts. lip a tiny bit of water into the storage bag to lubricate the chicken, and them put each breast in turn into the storage bag. Beat each chicken breast with a meat mallet until the thickest part is ¹/₄-inch thick. Try to keep an even thickness throughout.

Assemble the breading station with 3 casserole dishes. One hand, usually the left, becomes your dry hand and only touches dry ingredients. The other hand becomes your wet hand and only touches ett in gradients.

A. (dry hand) 1¹/₂ cups flour + 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp pepper
B. (wet hand) 3 egge, whisked
C. (dry hand) 1¹/₂ cups Panko bread crumbs + 1¹/₂ cups Parmesan cheese

Place a chicken breast in the flour. With your dry hand, make sure the chicken breast is fully coated with flour. Lift it from the flour and drop gently into the eggs without touching them. Using your wet hand, make sure it is fully coated by the eggs. Lift it from the eggs with your wet hand and gently drop it in the bread crumb mixture without touching it. With your dry hand, make sure the chicken breast is fully coated with bread crumbs. Lift out and set aside. Repeat process for other chicken breasts.

Fry in ¹/₄-¹/₂ cup olive oil on medium heat. Place in skillet with meat going away from you. Don't forget the pan has to be hot enough that when you put the chicken in, you hear a sizzle. That gives a good sear. if not, take chicken out and wait until pan is hot enough. Let the chicken tell you when it is ready to turn over—it will lift easily away from the pan.

Fry to a golden brown. When done, place on cooling rack, not immediately on a plate or it will get oily. When all the chicken is fried, place in oven for 15-25 minutes at 300 degrees until they get an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remember to let them rest, just like any meat.

This completes the chicken parmigiana. I always thought it had to have cheese on it. But the mixture of parmesan cheese with the bread crumbs is what makes it a chicken parmigiana. Of course, there are many things you can do with it, I like to cover it with cheese, douse it in marinara sauce, and serve it with spaghetti. The options are up to you.

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