Chicken Fried Chicken

Nathalie Roths, my cousin Mark's wife just posted she made one of my recipes on her blog, here's the link:  http://nathaliecalifornie.blogspot.com/2012/02/le-pot-roast-de-rachelle-rachelles-pot.html


Now, after that rave review, I feel I must post an Italian recipe today!  However, I was going to make some comfort food - chicken fried chicken with gravy.  Yes, regular white gravy!  Sometimes, I make sausage gravy, sometimes just plain, sometimes I add veggies.  Since I don't have any breakfast sausage in the house, used the last for (alas!) breakfast this morning, today it will be just a peppered bechamel sauce.  We still have leftover baked macaroni from last week, it's been coming with me for lunch every day.  My hubby finds some really good recipes on the net and has made a couple of them this week.  He bought some fresh broccoli and sauteed it with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  It was so yummy, we both wanted MORE! 

So, for today, it's just chicken.  Here goes:

The first time I made this I used boneless thighs.  I trimmed all the fat and pounded them thin.  This time I'm using chicken breasts.  They are thick, I will slice them in half, like a butterfly cut.  Of course, I'll trim all of the fat, I hate the taste and feel of cooked chicken fat. 

depending on how much chicken you have, use your best guess for amounts of flour, breadcrumbs, eggs and milk -  today I have 6 pieces of chicken ................

regular breadcrumbs and panko bread crumbs, combined
    (you can save the unused portion in a plastic bag for next time so as not to waste the leftovers)
1 or 2 eggs, scrambled   (not scrambled cooked eggs!!!)
milk
flour
salt
pepper
paprika
oil to coat fry pan about 1/4 to 1/2 inch

trim the fat from the chicken, season the bread crumb mixture with salt, pepper, paprika
dip the chicken in milk, then flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, lay them on wax paper
heat a heavy fry pan, preferably cast iron with the oil on medium heat, test with a few breadcrumbs to see if the oil is ready for frying.  when the crumbs begin to sizzle, oil is ready
fry the chicken until golden brown on both sides, make sure you don't over fry them, you don't want them to be dry and hard.  when you are done frying the chicken, keep them warm in the oven covered with foil

for the bechamel sauce:

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
salt
pepper
2 cups milk (more or less depending on how thick you want it)

in a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, mix it well, like you are making a roux
add the milk slowly, do this on lower heat so the mixture doesn't burn
add salt and pepper to taste.  I like my sauce thick, so i add smaller amounts of milk than most recipes state.  you can make "sausage gravy" this way, by first frying your breakfast sausage into crumbles, then adding the rest of the ingredients.  adding more pepper gives this recipe a kick.  it's all about your taste.

sometimes I spruce the recipe up with onions and peppers.  just saute the veggies, add to the mixture.  when I do this, I add a little more milk so the sauce is not so thick.  it all depends on what flavors you want for your chicken!

Tonight we'll have this with my husband's smashed baked potatoes:

red potatoes, baked until soft
take them out of the oven and smash them down into circles

season with olive oil, salt, pepper, parsely, paprika and rebake about 25 minutes until crispy.  this is done in a 375 to 400 degree oven.  oh my they are yummy!!!!!

Enjoy these recipes today!!!!!   Let me know what you think!