Panko Crusted Chicken with Tomato Sauce

Today’s creation is Panko Crusted Chicken with a tomato sauce. I found this recipe because I want to use up the panko crumbs I have left over after I tried to make salmon cakes (disaster!). Panko crumbs are basically bread crumbs…I think they are usually used in seafood – like the breaded shrimp I believe is with panko crumbs.

I should have known that I was not going to nail this recipe the first time I tried it. I always burn breaded chicken. For some reason I just haven’t gotten the hang of it. So here’s how the evening went…

Since I was trying something new I read through the entire recipe, and then I got out my ingredients. I like to be extra ready the first time I try something because I just never know how it’s going to turn out. In order to bread something, you generally coat it in flour and then egg (the egg sticks to the flour - without the flour, the egg would slide off the raw chicken). Then comes the crumbs. For this recipe the crumbs were mixed with seasoning and parmesan cheese. This recipe is a little messy and dirties a lot of dishes (one for the flour, one for the crumbs, one for the egg) which is something that turns me off of a meal but this one is good enough to at least try again. I preheated the oil in the skillet while I was getting everything ready (maybe that made the oil too hot?).

While I was burning the chicken I was getting the sauce ready. This was completely new to me and I have to say it was amazing. The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes and basil and garlic. The tomatoes basically stew in the saucepan and then they burst from the heat! They become incredibly soft. I usually don’t use fresh herbs even when the recipe calls for it. I substitute with dried. Fresh herbs can be pricey, and I can never use an entire package before it goes bad (add a papertowel to the package to help them last longer). For the basil though I went with the fresh kind and I was extremely happy I did. I think basil is sort of licorice-ishy. It was fantastic with the tomatoes.

The tomato sauce tops the chicken (ideally chicken which is not charred). I then sprinkled the combo with fresh parmesan. I believe this recipe to be a slightly healthier version of chicken parmesan. It was pretty tasty even though the breading was burnt. The chicken stayed moist and the tomato sauce was extra yummy. Next time I make this (planning to in a couple weeks) I’m planning on using less heat than what the recipe calls for. I have a gas stove which I think tends to be hotter than electric ones. I’m also thinking that I will pound the chicken breast slightly or maybe even use tenders. Hopefully that will help prevent burning!

And here’s the recipe: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3313

Since this is a Rachael Ray recipe, I’m just copying the link. Not sure how reproduction rules work in this case, but I like to avoid legal trouble.