Recipe Catch Up - Week of 8/9 - Chicken Parmesan

I am very excited to share the awesome dinner party I threw last weekend for Alec's birthday. But, before I do, I am making myself finish catching up on the Recipe of the Week backlog. Also, I have not downloaded the pictures from the dinner and I don't know where Alec put the card reader.

Anyway . . .

The week of 8/9, I tried my hand a Chicken Parmesan. I got the recipe from a cookbook I've had for 2.5 years, but haven't used yet, Stirring Performances from the Junior League of Winston-Salem. How I got it is actually kind of a funny story.

First, two pieces of background. When I lived in Winston-Salem, I was very active in the women's circle at my church, along with one of my best friends. Alec and I went back to Winston-Salem to get married in December, 2005 and were there for about a week before the actual wedding. So, when I was telling my friend (who was also a bridesmaid) when we were coming to town, I was very excited to find out that the circle Christmas party would be the same week. This party was always one of the highlights of my holiday season. I loved the women in my circle and we always had a great time at the party, eating yummy food and playing a vicious game of "dirty Santa." It might have been a church group, but we took our gift stealing very seriously!!

Even though I had a ton of wedding stuff to do, I decided there was no way I was going pass up the opportunity to attend the party. During the "dirty Santa" I opened, on my first try, a copy of Stirring Performances, which had recently been re-released by the Junior League. My mom had this cookbook when I was growing up, and I always loved to look at it. I was very excited to get it. The problem was, I had an awfully long time to defend it before the game was over. I successfully did so with plenty of pouty comments like "I'm getting married on Saturday, don't you think I need a cookbook?" and "I have always, always wanted this book" and "Doesn't everyone already have it?". Plus, plenty of hugging it to my chest and trying to hide it. Fortunately, there was plenty of snowman stuff (I don't know what it is about these gals and their snowmen, but they always cause good-natured fights) to go around and I got to keep it!

I then proceeded not to use it for 2.5 years. Maybe my excitement was overrated. Really, I think it was because I always thought it was full of really difficult, gourmet recipes. I remember mom using it for special occasions. But, when I finally looked through it, I realized that there's plenty of easy, everyday stuff in there, like this Chicken Parmesan.

Now that you're convinced I'm never going to get around to the actual recipe, here it is:

Chicken Parmesan with Herbed Tomato Sauce
from Stirring Performances by The Junior League of Winston-Salem

Ingredients
3/4 c. dry bread crumbs
1/3 c. fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
4 chicken breast halves
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
8 oz. tomato sauce
1/4 t. oregano
1/4 t. thyme
1/4 t. basil
4 slices mozzarella cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Wash chicken and dip in egg, then coat in bread crumb mixture.

Heat oil in a skillet and saute garlic over medium heat. Add chicken and brown 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and drain on paper towels.

Arrange chicken in 5x8-inch casserole. In a small bowl, stir seasonings into the tomato sauce and pour over chicken. Top with mozzarella slices.

Cover casserole and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve.

The Verdict
(No pictures. I forgot.)

The only thing I would do differently is maybe reduce the amount of breadcrumbs a bit. I might try Panko breadcrumbs next time. I just thought it needed to be a little less "bready." I also used grated mozzarella b/c I forgot to buy slices and it's quicker to grate from the block of cheese than to cut it into a bunch of slices. Thus, it melted a lot faster and was pretty much incorporated into the sauce by the time it was done.

Overall, though, it was a successful dish. Alec said he could eat it every week. Which I guess is a pretty strong endorsement. I haven't made it since then, but I have it on the list for next week!