Favorite Chicken

Sometimes my kids are eager to help me make dinner--or lunch, or breakfast, or dessert, for that matter--and sometimes they have no interest in being my cooking assistants. In the latter circumstance, I feel ever so grateful for the lay-out of our house that puts the kitchen counters just as close as they could possibly be to the playroom. I can prepare meals and the kids can be nearly under my feet, yet absolutely not under my feet. Especially in the evenings, I find that they really want to be with me, but can often be placated by my proximity, even if I'm not giving them my full attention. And I love being able to peek in on them and overhear the funny things the say and the crazy games they come up with.


I took the above photos the other night in the midst of making Favorite Chicken, which, unlike Favorite Rice, is actually not one of the kids' favorite foods . . . yet. It earned its title because it was my favorite dinner when I was little, and I'm planning to keep on making it for our brood until they finally fall in love with Favorite Chicken too.

Favorite Chicken is made with just a few simple ingredients:

boneless chicken breasts

flour
egg
bread crumbs

Begin by preparing the chicken: trim it, wash it, and cut each breast in half width-wise (to reduce the thickness; I recommend scissors). You could cut it up into bite-size pieces, like chicken nuggests, or you can leave it as larger serving-size pieces. I like to make a pile of flour and a pile of bread crumbs (made from old bread in the food processor) right on the counter (this kind of drives My Love crazy, but I really believe that counters are meant to be used), and I whisk the eggs up in a casserole dish.


Each piece of chicken gets to make the rounds from one medium to another. First up: flour.

After coating the chicken in flour, move it on to the egg.

Once both sides of chicken have been thoroughly dipped in egg, it's bread crumb time.


Move the bread-crumb-covered chicken to a plate while you work on the next piece.


The chicken can be cooked in a skillet, on a griddle, or in an electric frying pan (I use a stove-top cast iron griddle). Heat up the cooking surface to a medium temperature, and grease it with a bit of butter. Lay the pieces of chicken on top.


Cook for about 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat and the temperature of the pan or griddle. Then flip, and continue cooking until done (meat inside should be completely white), 3-5 minutes more.

Serve with a wedge of lemon for true mouth-watering deliciousness.

favorite chicken with broccoli and "squiggly noodles"

I wonder if it would work to make some homemade chicken nuggets using this recipe and then freeze them for a future harried evening? Perhaps I'll try it one of these days since I'm planning to make Favorite Chicken at least three more times this month, hoping that repetition will work wonders on the kids' palates. And if the kids don't come around, there will just be more left over for Lena and me. Yum.