Aunt Kookie's Cookatorium

You ever sit down and stare at a computer screen and say to yourself, “what do I type?” Yep, well, it’s like that. I’m rolling up my sleeves, sitting down and saying HELLO WORLD, COME ENJOY MY COOKING!

Welcome to my first post EVER! Hopefully you will enjoy the short commentary followed by a *hopefully* creative and delicious cooking experiment.

A few months ago, I moved BACK out of my parents’ house (thank you awesome parents!) and into my own place again. Starting over is *so* great. I’ve always loved cooking, and trying new things, but in the last few months have REALLY found a love for sharing what I’ve been cooking and improving upon it. After a few months of posting every new recipe I try out, plus pictures on Facebook, I thought to myself…I need a new medium. Something that is dedicated to just my recipes, my interpretations, and perhaps–and I apologize–some ranting about other randomness.

I’m going to keep this post relatively short and sweet–as most of the site is still under construction, but I felt that I really wanted to post something. That being said….let the drum roll begin….

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Caprese Topping

Ingredient List

Parmesan Crusted Chicken:

• 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• 2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten, plus 1 Tbs cold water
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Caprese Topping:

• 2-3 Roma tomatoes, quartered and sliced
• 2-3b Tbs fresh basil, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 16oz fresh mozzarella cheese, quartered and sliced to 1/4″-1/2″ thickness
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper (use less if using fresh ground, 3 good turns on the pepper grinder)

Directions

For the chicken, trim any fat or gristle off the chicken breasts, set aside.  In a shallow dish or bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese, oregano, and salt and pepper.  Feel free to omit the salt at this point–the cheese may add plenty of salt depending on personal taste.

Heat a large pan with a couple tablespoons of oil.  Treat the 1/4 measuring of oil as more of a “just in case you need more.”

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and water together to combine for dipping.  Dip chicken in breadcrumb mixture, then into egg mixture, then back into the breadcrumbs, making sure everything is completely covered.  Put in the pan, cook until golden.  Repeat this process with the remaining chicken breasts.

While the chicken is cooking, put the topping together!  Combine all ingredients for the topping, leaving the salt and pepper.  Let the topping rest for a minute, and stir again, adding the salt and pepper.  Feel free to add more of each to taste!  I personally love garlic and pepper, so those are the two ingredients I really want to pop at me when I taste it.

Once your salad and chicken are done, serve your chicken, and scoop a healthy amount of the topping over top.  Cut yourself a bit, scoop up a bit of cheese and tomato–and wait for your mouth to sing!

Until next time…enjoy!