Questions, Comfort, And Chicken Cutlets

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Last week I told you guys to send me your questions about relationships, and you did just that! I got a nice little bundle of questions that I’m going to get to answering over the next few weeks. (And you guys can still continue to send questions to me.) And since food always makes everything better, I’ll be pairing a recipe with my advice at the end of every newsletter. See? Synergy, people!

In a sense, this is just the natural progression of Sunday Sauce that makes it feel more and more like a true Italian-American Sunday dinner. All I remember from those dinners at my grandmother’s is being piled around a kitchen table and just talking to (and most of the time, over) my family. It’s where advice would be doled out, problems would be discussed, and gossip would be spread. My grandmother’s table was one of the most comforting places you could be.

And I want to replicate that, not only in my own kitchen, but in this newsletter, too. So I’m excited to start answering your questions about life, love, sex, food…whatever. Consider me your 30-something Italian Mama. I’ll feed you some advice and then feed you some food. That’s amore.

This week, though, I’m serving up a staple of every Italian-American kitchen: The chicken cutlet. At any given time, it’s likely you can open the fridge of an Italian-American woman and find a chicken cutlet. They are the base of a million recipes I plan to share in the future, like Chicken Parmigiana and Chicken Milanese. They’re amazing on sandwiches, delicious sliced over salads, and amazing eaten cold standing up at your kitchen counter. I actually love to dunk my cutlets in blue cheese dressing.

They’re the ultimate comfort food, and given what was happening in the country this week, (*cough* midterms *cough*) I needed some comfort.

So enjoy your cutlets, and tell me how you serve them. I’ll be back next week with answers to questions and recipes to pair with my advice. Don’t forget to send in your q’s!

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Eat This, It’ll Make You Feel Better

Chicken Cutlets

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb boneless, skinless, thin-sliced chicken breasts

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

• 1/2 cup plain Italian breadcrumbs

• 1 tbsp parsley

• 1 tbsp garlic powder

• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

• salt and pepper, to taste

• olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove chicken breasts from packaging and place them between two pieces of aluminum foil. Pound the breasts until tender and thin, about 1/4 inch thick. Cut breasts into smaller pieces—I like to make them about the size of my hand.

2. In a shallow bowl, scramble the four eggs. In a second shallow bowl, mix your panko, breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic powder, parmesan, salt, and pepper.

3. Dip each chicken breast in the eggs on both sides until coated, letting the excess drip off. Then, dredge them in your breadcrumb mixture until fully covered. Continue until all of your cutlets are breaded.

4. In a large skillet, heat about a 1/2 inch of olive oil until shimmering. Fry your cutlets until golden brown, flipping as the first side cooks through. Each side should take about 3 minutes to cook. Place cooked cutlets on a paper towel-lined plate to drain while you finish cooking the others.

5. Serve hot any way you like. If I’m eating immediately, I sometimes like to squeeze a little lemon over them to brighten the flavor.