Cotolette

Cutlets (Cotolette in Italian) - one of the most basic ways to prepare a chicken breast (or veal), in my opinion. When learning how to cook yourself dinner, knowing how to prepare a chicken cutlet is like riding a bike with training wheels - you need to know this before moving on to something more advanced. Chicken Cutlets are like the universal meal...so I figured I would share my recipe.

I prefer smaller, thinner cut chicken cutlets, and I try to make them on the lighter side - no flour, and using 1 egg white instead of 2 whole eggs. You can make them with just egg whites to be even healthier! You can bake them or pan fry them... In this recipe I pan fried them in Canola Oil because they taste better!

Ingredients: For 1.5 lbs of Chicken Breast

• Chicken Cutlets - rinsed and patted dry
• 1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tbs Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Pinch of Cracked Pepper
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Whole Egg
• 1 Egg White
• 5+ tbs Canola Oil

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork. Set Aside.  On a flat plate, add the bread crumbs, garlic powder, parmigiano, salt, pepper and mix all together.

Dredge each chicken breast in the beaten eggs and transfer to the bread crumbs. Liberally coat the cutlet well in the bread crumbs, pat each side well a few times with the bread crumbs. Place on a separate, clean plate until you are done seasoning all the cutlets.

In a large skillet, heat up the oil until it is very hot. If the oil is not heated well the chicken will just soak up all the oil and become greasier.  Cook on each side for about 4 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken is cut), until golden brown and crispy.

These are served with a side of Broccoli with melted Bacon & Onion Cheddar Cheese from none other than Wisconsin.