The complexity of simple…
Welcome interested readers, to the food borne Illness that is my blog; food porn in the People’s Press Project, today a lesson in simplicity, a whole new region of chicken, oppose the norm and K.I.S.S…
What do you use to cover your breasts?
So as you may remember lucid readers, recently at www.hpr1.com in an effort to avoid the Valentines Day melee in local restaurants, we made Penne pasta, tossed in vodka-tomato cream sauce. This sauce is complex in its simplicity, as almost all the ingredients are listed in the name. One problem… How, do we complement this sauce with a subtle protein, simple yet complex, without resorting to the traditional grilled chicken breast or overbearing chicken parmesan? What if we tried Pollo Milano?
Milano?.. Pollo!
What exactly is a Pollo Milano? A Google search brings up a number of different recipes and restaurant dishes; running the gamut from pasta dishes to sandwiches, but the top hit on my Googler was Pollo Milano at Teresa’s eatery in Middleton, MA. www.teresaseatery.com that described it as hand breaded, breast of chicken with panko crumbs, topped with a light tomato sauce… Sounds perfect, we already got the vodka-tomato cream sauce, so we are halfway home…
Please try this at home…
If you are making the sauce at the same time as your chicken then start on the Pollo while your sauce is simmering, you will need: 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, a bowl containing a ½ cup panko bread crumbs, another bowl containing ½ cup flour, and one more bowl containing one egg beaten with a shot of water, salt and pepper. Two last things my ambitious friends, an oven proof sauté pan containing ¼ cup cooking oil heated to medium and a pre heated 350 degree oven.
Now, grab a seasoned chicken breast, coat it with egg wash, then with flour and shake off excess, place back in the egg wash and coat thoroughly, then a final coating of panko crumbs. Repeat until all of the chicken breasts are thoroughly coated and set aside for ten minutes, then heat the oil in the pan. Once the oil is hot, gently place the chicken in the oil and cook for three minutes a side, lastly place your oven proof chicken pan into the oven for 3 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165-170 degrees.
Done… Remove your chicken breasts with tongs, place on plates and serve with penne pasta, ladle some vodka-tomato cream sauce over the whole mix and garnish with some Italian parsley, parmesan cheese or nothing at all. Remember, simplicity is the only complex piece of this palate pleaser, so keep it simple, stupid.
Questions or comments contact Joshua Steiner @ steinerjoshppp@gmail.com
*Joshua Steiner is a food obsessed individual who has worked in restaurants and kitchens for most of his life and held just about every conceivable job in the industry. Now he’s bringing his tips, tricks and travels to The High Plains Reader and @thepeoplespressproject.org for you to use in YOUR kitchen.