So Much Fried Chicken

Chicken Milanese is one of the first meals I posted to this blog, and it's one that we have continued to enjoy.  Over the past couple years I've come to realize that I can do much more with a breaded chicken cutlet than just this one delicious meal.

It started when I ran across this recipe for  Korean Fried Chicken.  It looked incredible, and I had to try it.  Looking at the recipe I noticed that it started out very similar to the Chicken Milanese above with breaded chicken, although there were some minor differences in the breading mixtures.  After the chicken is breaded and fried it is dipped in a sweet and spicy sauce.

Then I visited Nashville, TN and tried its amazing hot chicken (spicy fried chicken).  I was sad that this deliciousness was only available in Nashville.  I resolved that I had to learn to make it.  When I looked into recipes for it I learned that chicken was breaded, fried and dipped in a spicy oil afterwards.  I realized I could make a generic, breaded chicken cutlet and use it in a variety of ways.



Another thing I made a couple of years ago was some coconut chicken strips.  I did them as a different meal than the chicken milanese.  I never got around to posting it because the seasonings weren't right the first time, and I wanted to fix it before posting.  When I was thinking about breading chicken cutlet I decided I could make a coconut cutlet as well.  I would simply do that one last and add shredded coconut to the breading.

That brings me up to 4 variants of fried chicken.  I love this type of variable meal.  It's nice to be able to make one thing that can be used many different ways, keeping the variety in our meals up while keeping the prep work down.  I'm sure there;s plenty more ways to use a fried chicken cutlet that I just haven't discovered yet.

Breaded Chicken Cutlets

10 lbs thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets
2 cups flour
10 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
14 cups panko
salt and pepper

Set up your breading station.  You will need 3 pans.  Flour, salt and pepper will go in one, eggs and milk in another and panko, salt and pepper will go in the third.  I used pie plates for mine, which don't hold a lot, and replenished them as needed.  My notes said I refilled the flour pan once, the egg pan 4 times and the panko pan 6.  It looks like getting some larger pans would make the process easier.  The ratios for smaller batches are as follows:

• Pan 1
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• Pan 2
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Pan 3
• 2 cups panko
• 2 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp pepper

Mix the contents of each pan, and refill them as needed.

Bread the chicken.  Coat each cutlet first in flour, then dip it in the egg mixture and last coat with panko.  This works best if you keep one hand for handling the chicken when dry (flour, panko) and the other hand for when wet (egg).  This minimizes how much breading sticks to your hands.  It works even better still if you have a friend or family member who can do the breading process with you.

Coconut Chicken.  Once I had breaded 3/4 of the chicken, I switched one of the cups of plain panko in the last pan for a cup of shredded, unsweetened coconut that I had pulsed in the food processor to chop finely.  I breaded the last 1/4 of the chicken cutlets with this to make a coconut chicken.

To freeze:
Place the breaded chicken cutlets on a pan lined with parchment paper.  You can do up to two layers on a pan with parchment between them.  Freeze the chicken overnight until solid.  Move the cutlets to a bag or containers for longer storage.

To use:
Thaw the chicken in the fridge overnight.  Heat a thin layer of oil in a pan until it's hot enough to splatter when flicked with water droplets.  Add the chicken in a single layer.  Don't overcrowd the pan.  Cook the chicken until golden brown on the first side.  Flip and cook until golden on the other side and cooked through.  Continue to scroll for serving suggestions.

Chicken Milanese with a pickled onion salad.

Sweet and spicy Korean Fried Chicken.

 

Nashville Hot Chicken

There's no special instructions for the coconut chicken.  Just fry it up and and serve it with whatever sides sound good.  I often serve it with fresh pineapple and chips or sweet potatoes.  I also always serve it with a pineapple, pepper sauce, which I buy at the grocery store in the BBQ sauce aisle. The sauce really makes the dish.

Buffalo chicken cutlet - I am surprised it took me so long to think of this usage of the chicken cutlets.  Fry the chicken cutlets and then dip them in buffalo wing sauce as they come out of the pan.  Place the cutlet on a rack on top of sheet pan to let the excess sauce and oil drain.  I used a pre-made sauce from the store, but you can also make buffalo wing sauce by mixing equal parts melted butter and hot sauce, or whatever your favorite sauce is. Of course this must be served with bleu cheese dressing and celery.  I also like a crisp green salad with it.