Chicken Cutlets from My Childhood

comments 4
Family / Meats
DSC_2298

I am sure that most Italian-Americans have their own recipe for this dish, but the ones my grandmother and mother made were the best by far!

panko bread crumbs for the coating. The finished product is much more crispy than the seasoned breadcrumb from the can that my mother and grandmother used. It is addicting. It is a favorite in my family, something we know the kids are guaranteed to eat. We always serve it with roasted asparagus. I don’t know why, but that is how it is done in the Della Vecchia household.

One last item: try taking some extra left over panko and adding some of the egg mixture until a little patty can be formed. Fry the patties after the cutlets and enjoy.

Ingredients
(makes enough for 4 people – double the recipe for great leftovers)

4 large chicken breast, cut in half evenly and pounded thin
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 lemons
1/2 cup fresh parsley
grated pecorino cheese
salt
cracked black pepper
Seasoned, dry panko bread crumbs (the best quality you can buy)
Oil for frying

  1. Beat the eggs and add the milk. Chop the parley and add to mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Grate the zest of one lemon and add. Add the cutlets to the egg mixture.
  2. Pour a generous amount of panko in a plate. Grate enough pecorino over the panko as you like (taste the panko for salt levels first, but I use a lot). Zest the other lemon and add to crumbs. Season with cracked black pepper to taste. Mix until thouroughly distributed. Spread out the panko so it is even. Cut the lemons into wedges to use for later on.
  3. In a large saute pan add enough olive oil to come up the sides a bit. Heat on medium high until a bit of panko dropped in the oil start to sizzle.
  4. Take out a cutlet and lay it in the spread out panko. Press it in, and then flip. Press again until the whole outside of the cutlet is covered. Add to the oil and add another two coated cutlets to the pan (or to fit). Fry on one side until golden brown. Flip and repeat. Drain on paper towels, and sprinkle some salt on them as soon as they come out of the oil.
  5. Serve with the lemon wedges.

4 Comments

  1. Paul Perasso says

    John – Nice Blog with great photo’s! This particular entry reminds me of my youth. These (but with veal) were a staple of my nonna’s kitchen. For some reason she always used dehydrated parsley, and of course, no panko back then. Like you, I use chicken or sometimes turkey breast. Great sandwiches with leftovers the next day. She did sliced cardoon the same way. Good stuff.

    Thanks

    • JDV says

      Paul – My mother and grandmother also used dehydrated parsley. And I remember getting chicken cutlet sandwiches in my lunchbox in elementary school!

      John

  2. Lou T. says

    I’m younger and from an Italian-American family as well and my mom is still making cutlets as my grandmother did. Love the recipe, John… really does seem like all Italian-Americans have a variation on this!

    • JDV says

      I agree – no two recipes are alike, but the best is always the one that you grow up with.

      John

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *