Chicken Milanese

Chef's notes

Whenever anyone visited our apartment or any of my aunt's, there always seemed to be chicken (or veal) Milanese ready. No one ever left hungry even when they didn't come to eat.

This dish is easy to make. It's simply chicken pounded into cutlets (see above), coated with bread crumbs using the Italian three step process described above then sautéed in olive oil. We ate them as a snack or for lunch, sandwiched between two slices of old world-bread. Chicken Milanese is also used in chicken parmigiana.

Our bakeries made bread with simple natural ingredients without preservatives. Leftover bread would dry within a day and never wasted. Mom made homemade bread crumbs. She lightly oven toasted day old bread before cubing slices. Today with modern food processors, that process is much easier. For seasoned crumbs, she would lightly coat them with olive oil and toss them with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and graded parmigiana cheese just prior to using.

Quality breadcrumbs were also readily available from our local bakeries along with "day old breads" at deep discounts. Grocery store breadcrumbs are a reasonable convenience but nothing beats homemade.

The only change to mom's original recipe below is optional brining of the chicken. It helps keep chicken moist.

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Ingredients

2 boneless chicken breast halves cut into cutlets (but make extra)

Brining (optional)

1-14.5 oz. can chicken broth
2 teaspoons Kosher salt

Coating

Flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Olive oil
1-cup seasoned breadcrumbs
2-tablespoon grated parmigiana cheese

Instructions

Follow instructions above for making chicken breasts into cutlets; each half breast makes 1 large cutlet.
Mix broth and Koshr salt. Submerge chicken, cover and refrigerate for at 1/2 hour.
Remove chicken and rinse and thoroughly dry chicken with paper towels.
Prepare 3 flat bottom dishes in a row. Add flour in the first. Scrambled eggs, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil in the second. Fill the last with seasoned bread mixed with additional grated cheese (or on wax paper).
Lightly dust the first breast with flour on both sides. Shake off excess. Dip both sides in the egg mixture letting excess egg mixture drain off. Roll and press the breasts in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Place coated chicken in a plate, single layer. Refrigerate them at least a half hour before cooking.
Place olive oil in a large frying pan over low-medium heat. Sauté chicken until breadcrumbs lightly browned. Flip them over and continue sautéing until the chicken is just cooked through. Place cooked chicken on a paper towel briefly and served with lemon wedges.
Note: if cooking larger amounts of chicken in batches. Replace oil and wipe pan clean when used oil becomes stale.

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Gluten Free Version

Make the following changes to the coating recipe above:

Replace wheat flour with Gluten free flour
Replace seasoned breadcrumbs with Plain Gluten Free Breadcrumbs
Mix Gluten Free Breadcrumbs with 1/4 cup of Parmigiana Cheese (verses 2 tablespoons original recipe).
Lightly dust the first breast with Gluten Free Flour Shake off excess. Dip both sides of cutlets in the egg mixture. Let excess egg mixture drain off.
Roll and press breasts in the Gluten Free Breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup Parmigiana Cheese mixture.

Verify all ingredients by brands purchased are Gluten Free.

Three Step Breading...dredging, egg dip, seasoned bread crumbs

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Chicken Milanese