Chicken Parmesan

(Yay a Wednesday post!) 

Hubby and I both independently had the idea to make chicken parmesan for dinner.  We combined our skills (his perfect marinara and my ability to bread chicken) and set off on an impromptu cooking experience.   It was really quite easy and does not in fact (regardless of my previous statements) require much skill.  And it was tasty to boot!

Chicken Parmesan

Breaded Chicken

• 4 chicken breasts (you can modify this to meet your needs, of course)
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
  
•  1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp water

Marina Sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 4 oz tomato paste
• 4 oz water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

For Serving

• Pasta, prepared per the instructions (spaghetti or angel hair works well)
  
• Mozzarella   

For the chicken:  Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a baking dish with pam.  In a large, shallow bowl or dish (pie pans work well) combine the breadcrumbs, oregano, basil, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder,  salt, and pepper.  Place the flour into another shallow dish. In yet another dish, beat together the eggs and water.   

It's easiest to set up an assembly line.  First, your chicken, then the flour, egg mixture, and breadcrumbs with the baking dish at the end.  Dredge a chicken breast in the flour, making sure it is well coated but removing any excess.  Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture, then through the breadcrumb mixture.  Go back to the egg mixture and dip it again, making sure to shake off any excess.  Dredge once again in the breadcrumbs and place in the baking dish.  This is what you're doing:

 Flour -> Egg -> Breadcrumbs -> Egg -> Breadcrumbs

 Repeat for each piece of chicken.  Bake 35 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. 

Once the chicken has been baking for 15 minutes or so, combine the marina ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  After it begins to boil, reduce to a simmer.   

To serve: Place chicken atop a bed of pasta, then ladle some sauce on top. Sprinkle with Mozzarella and enjoy.

December 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

 

 Man, I'm finishing this at the last moment and with copious help from my wonderful, dearest hubby.  We had some difficulties but had a fabulous time putting it together.  Hubby helped with the rolling, cutting, and gluing together of the house.  (Had I been gluing it together, disaster in the form of sugar-burned Sarah would have occurred).  Our gingerbread house is perhaps not perfect, but it is a home of love. 

I went with The Great Scandinavian Baking Book recipe (because it required less time, sadly) and decided to stick with a mostly red and white theme.. except for my little bushes, which I adore. 

As my brother-in-law loves to tell me, my blog sucks now.  I know and I'm sorry but I find myself in a rut.  I feel so energyless all the time.  Perhaps it's just the end of the year or the stress of my new job, but hopefully I'll get back in my rhythm soon. 

December 2009 Daring Cooks Challenge

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

I was pretty stoked to see this month's challenge because I have been planning to attempt Beef Wellington for awhile.  Since I've already made something really similar to the Salmon en Croute, I decided it would be okay to go with the alternative.  Unfortunately, something happened to my pictures, and I've just got the one salvageable one.

Overall, I was disappointed in my beef wellington.  I think my expectations went well beyond the realities of the dish.  Perhaps were the seasonings a bit different... I don't know.  I can't imagine that there isn't a fantastic way to have such a nice cut of beef wrapped in yummy mushrooms and  pastry.