Something Old Something New

Breaded chicken is a recipe I learnt when I was in university, and it's something my family enjoys. It's really simple and can be paired with any side dish you fancy. Mashed potatoes, tomato salsa, grilled veggies, couscous...you name it...you can make it. If you are on a budget, eating breaded chicken at a fast food joint or any restaurant would probably put a dent in your pocket. As for the portion sizes....err....hmmm...they don't pretty much match the price.

Let me share with you, some tricks of the trade that I do when I prepare my breaded chicken. First of all, I like to go to hypermarkets or purchase the chicken breasts at the night market. Nowadays, its super easy to purchase just the chicken breast and the price is not too bad too. Around 2 pretty good sized chicken breast for RM4++ at hypermarkets. At that price, just imagine the amount of money you can save by eating at home. Ok....now for the secret...hahhah...you know how each chicken breast is pretty large..well... (drum roll please)...guess what? I like to divide my chicken breast into 2-3 portions per chicken breast..meaning that 1 chicken breast can feed 2-3 persons! What a saving! haha..well anyway..chicken breast nowadays are huge! And I find that once divided..and paired with the right amount of side dishes is more than enough for a good meal.

How do I do it? Well people...just lay the chicken breast flat on your chopping board and slice horizontally through the chicken almost like butterflying the chicken. Make sure you divide it evenly. You know, once you cover the chicken with flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs..no one is going to notice that they are eating 1/3 of a chicken breast! Trust me! 

Something old something new represents an old recipe I know which is the breaded chicken recipe and giving it a little twist with various ingredients to make it new (optional ingredients stated below). Now, lets get to the recipe so that you readers can get saving (on money) and get cooking! By the way, kids will love this recipe and you can do many variations to this recipe. Happy cooking!

Breaded chicken breast with long beans, tomato salsa and buttery garlicky dill potatoes

Breaded Chicken (Basic Recipe)

Ingredients:

flour (as needed)

1-2 eggs - lightly beaten

breadcrumbs (as needed)

salt and pepper to taste

lemon juice

oil for frying or you can even bake it

*Optional: shredded cheddar cheese, chopped parsley, grill seasoning, toasted almond slivers, garlic powder or minced garlic

Instructions: 

1. Prepare the chicken breast by removing the skin.
2. Place cleaned chicken breast flat on your chopping board and slice through the chicken breast horizontally from side to side..aiming for 2-3 pieces from 1 chicken breast.
3. Place the chicken breast in a bowl and season with salt pepper and lemon juice. (I find that the lemon juice stops the chicken from drying out..it remains juicy even after many hours). you can even season with grill seasoning, Cajun spices ..what ever you fancy.
4. Leave to marinate a few minutes, up to a day in the refrigerator.
5. Prepare 3 bowls for the breading station. 1 bowl for the flour, 1 bowl for the egg wash and 1 bowl for the bread crumbs. For the breadcrumbs, you can even add chopped parsley, shredded cheese or other optional ingredients you like.
6. Coat the marinated chicken breast with flour.
7. Dust off access flour and dip into the egg wash.
8. Quickly remove from egg wash and place into the breadcrumbs. Coat well and evenly. Pat slightly so that the breadcrumbs stick to the egg wash.
9. Put aside and heat up oil for frying. You can pan fry with little oil or you can also deep fry or bake. The choice is yours.
10. Place the breaded chicken in the hot oil and fry till golden brown on both sides.
11. Once golden brown, remove from oil and place on paper towel to absorb the access oil.
12. Serve hot with side dishes of your liking.

Note: You can even freeze the individually breaded chicken in the freezer, layering with plastic in between or even parchment paper. Super easy for super busy working people or moms!