It’s been a while… with the beginning of the school year – an overnight in the hospital (don’t ask… suffice it to say, nothing serious) – HealthCampSD (San Diego) for four days (it almost felt like a vacation). Yeah… not a lot of cooking going on in our house. Today… I definitely felt like cooking. It was a long day for my Heart so I thought some comfort food was in order.
I had planned on stir-fry chicken with string beans & rice for dinner but we had lots of potatoes left from Sunday Roast (something quick and easy this week – homemade Clam Chowder) …. so I thought I would change to something that would go with taters – either roasted or mashed. Dinner evolved from there.
“chicken-fried chicken” … some restaurant we used to go to would serve this. It is basically chicken-fried steak only using boneless chicken breasts. First the chicken was floured (I seasoned the flour with a healthy dose of cayenne pepper) then an egg wash and then panko bread crumbs (which make a great crunch). I did Fry the chicken breasts but I used less than a 1/4 c of canola oil on a relatively high heat so they weren’t overly greasy.
Once the chicken was cooked, I moved them to a plate and put it in the oven to stay warm. Next I whisked a bit of flour in the remaining oil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet then added some 1% milk and a touch of half & half for richness (I prefer 2% or whole milk for country gravy but this was a last minute decision so I had to make do), once thickened some freshly ground pepper was added as a finishing touch
Pretty basic down-home meal: fresh mashed potatoes, green beans (just lightly sauteed with a balsamic glaze), and chicken-fried chicken with country gravy and a nice bottle of white wine. A great way to relax after a long, stressful day!