Thursday, August 27, 2009

Farm Stand Chicken

Is it Friday yet? This week is dragging on and If I don't get to the beach soon, I am going to turn into the biggest grump around...even bigger then I already am being. Which is quite scary.
I am excited because I ordered some new cooking tools. I am anxiously awaiting my corn de-cobber and my ginger grater. Man do I love Williams Sonoma. I try to stay away because I dont have any room in my over packed kitchen as it is, but If I ever need a job, I am going to run not walk to my local WS!!!
I could have used my corn de-cobber for dinner tonight. I never ever used fresh corn for things. I don't know why, just didn't. My lovely cousin informed me a few weeks ago that you can use it practically raw when taken fresh off the cob and I had no idea. I thought you needed to boil it first and then take it off the cob which seemed like an awful lot of work when you could just pull it out of the freezer. That little tidbit has changed my world. I stick fresh corn in everything now. I buy ears of it on Monday and try to figure out where I can add it into my meals. So YAY to fresh corn!!!

Farm Stand Chicken
adapted from Dinners for a Year and Beyond

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs
olive oil
1 cup corn, fresh, canned, or frozen/thawed
1 cup tomato, diced
2 scallions, sliced thin
***I added an additional grated fresh zucchini****
drizzle of olive oil
about 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, or substitute your favorite cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

****before I started I pounded the breasts so that they were a bit thinner and they were even. If not I feel like the thinner part gets too dry trying to cook the thicker part*****
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
Set aside.
Combine flour and bread crumbs in a shallow dish.
Beat eggs in another shallow dish.
Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan.
Dredge chicken in flour mixture and then in egg and saute for about 3 - 4 minutes per side until nicely browned.
Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.
If chicken is not cooked through at this point finish cooking in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine corn, tomato, scallions, zucchini, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.
Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. ***I used a baking dish***
Top each one with about 1/4 of the corn mixture and 1/4 of the grated cheese.
Bake in oven for about 5 - 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Note: This meal can be made ahead of time. Saute the chicken, let cool and package for the frig. Mix up the corn mixture and keep in the frig. At dinner time, preheat the oven, assemble the chicken breasts and bake. Viola! It's just dinner.
Without the cheese, pretty colors huh?

With the cheese all nice and baked
oh and I had leftover mixture because I wasnt sure if Jackson wanted to have it all farm standish & cheesy so I just put the rest in the pan.


VERDICT:
HELLO YUMMY CHICKEN, meet my happy belly.
I really enjoyed this dish. I had never mixed flour and bread crumbs together and then fried. I guess that is how they make chicken francaise in the restaurants huh? Never knew. Anyway, I loved it. I also loved how easy this dish was and you could easily serve it for company because its colorful, flavorful and so easy. I think I might to Italian up the farm stand next time with a similar idea, stayed tuned for that. I had an awesome zucchini side dish I had been waiting to make with just the right meal and this was it....only when I looked at the recipe it needed to sit overnight and it was 6:00 pm already so I now have a ton of zucchini waiting to be side dished. Hopefully since it was from the farm stand it will be fresh enough that it will keep until next week. I will need to find another perfect meal to make it with. Having the for thought to cook anything a day ahead isn't likely going to happen with my 2 crazy monkeys in the house.





3 comments:

  1. OMG that looks good! I can't wait to try it!

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  2. So glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe. This is the perfect time of year to make it as the corn has been fantastic!

    Sorry it doesn't look like beach weather this weekend. :(

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  3. Made this tonight with mashed potatoes and everyone loved it! Used canned diced tomatoes since the ones I had weren't in the best shape...but they were great!

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