vineyard chicken

     
This is a crunchy, tangy, sweet and spicy dish - I know right!? It looks a bit complicated but trust me take each part at a time and get it done. You will look like a total cooking genius! Get the sauce and the filling done ahead of time if you can  - they take no time to do. The key to this recipe is the chicken - panko and golden brown - crispy and sooo yummy! The salad will balance it all out and make you feel good about the fired....HAHAHAH! That's silly....because  the fried makes you feel good all by itself! Trust me...on a day you feel like you earned that fried food (you know MonDAY, TuesDAY...you get it) have this! Oh and it works excellent for a dinner party. I guarantee it will not be the typical recipe - I know cuz I made this one up!

 Ingredients
4 large Chicken Cutlet

·        1 Cup Flour

·        4 Eggs (1-2 Tbls water to make the wash)

·        2 tsps Poultry Seasoning  (divided) If you use fresh finely chop and mix 1Tbls each of rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley – then divide between the egg and the flour.

·        2 tsps Garlic Powder (divided)

·        2 tsps Onion Powder (divided)

·        2 tsps Paprika  (divided)

·        1 tsps Red Pepper (divided) not crushed – ground red pepper; you can add more or less to taste.

·        2 ½ cups Panko Bread crumbs

·        2 Tbls Salt  (divided)

·        2 Tbls Pepper (divided)

·        Canola Oil (enough to go ½ inch up the side of a frying pan)

·        1 cup Ricotta

·        1 cup Hazelnuts (toasted, paperless, and chopped – not too fine about ½ the size of a pea)

·        ¼ cup Raisins

·        ½ tsp Cinnamon

·        1/8 tsp Nutmeg

·        2 cups White & Red Seedless Grapes (divided 1 Cup whole for sauce,  ½ cup cut in half for salad and ½ cup whole for garnish)

·        ¾ cup Balsamic

·        ½ cup Honey

·        4 cups Arugula

·        1 Tbls Lemon Juice

·        3 Tbls Olive oil

·        1 tsp Dijon mustard

·        Pinch of salt and pepper

·        ¼ cup crushed toasted hazelnuts

·        ½ cup halved seedless grapes (green and red or whatever you got)

Sauce

·        ¾  cup Balsamic vinegar

·        1 cup of whole seedless grapes

·        ¼- ½ cup of honey (more or less to taste – the sauce will have a tangy sweetness)

In a sauté pan over med-high heat; add the Balsamic and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to a high simmer and add Grapes. The grapes will burst and gave up their juices (3-5 mins). Add Honey and continue to cook until the liquid in the pan develops into a lose syrup (3-5 mins). Remove from heat and set aside.

Filling

·        1 cup whole ricotta

·        ½ tsp cinnamon

·        1/8 tsp nutmeg (few ginds of a nutmeg grinder or 5-6 grates of fresh)  

·        1 Tbls Honey

·        ¼ cup crushed toasted hazelnuts

·        ¼ cup raisins (plumped in hot water – discard the water)

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine.

Cutlets

·        4 large Chicken Cutlet

·        1 Cup Flour

·        4 Eggs (1-2 Tbls water to make the wash)

·        2 tsps Poultry Seasoning  (divided) If you use fresh finely chop and mix 1Tbls each of rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley – then divide between the egg and the flour.

·        2 tsps Garlic Powder (divided)

·        2 tsps Onion Powder (divided)

·        2 tsps Paprika  (divided)

·        1 tsps Red Pepper (divided) not crushed – ground red pepper; you can add more or less to taste.

·        2 ½ cups Panko Bread crumbs

·        2 Tbls Salt  (divided)

·        2 Tbls Pepper (divided)

·        Canola Oil (enough to go ½ inch up the side of a frying pan)

Panko bread crumbs don’t season all that well. They are big and the seasoning doesn’t seem to stick – so instead I make sure I season the flour and egg wash. Season the flour and egg wash with the seasonings.

Heat the oil to just above 350 degrees. 350 in the optimal frying temperature but when you add the chicken it cools the oil slightly. There is a lot to be said about getting a thermometer and checking your oil temp when frying – I’ll just say when you do it once you’ll want to do it every time – oh I’ve heard that before!

Also work in batches – since there are only four cutlets this is easy but if you double – just flour all the cutlets first and put them on a plate. Then ‘egg’ and ‘bread crumb’ them together (I love when nouns like egg and bread crumb become verbs – and I don’t know why!). Put them back on the plate – let them set a bit while the oil comes to temperature.

Also have ready a baking sheet with a cookie rack and set your oven on 200 degrees.

One or two at a time (don’t crowd the pan) put the cutlets in the oil and fry until golden (2 minutes give or take a side). Drain the cutlet by holding in over the oil for just a sec – blot on paper towel and then place carefully on the cookie rack. Finish frying all the culets as described and then put them in the oven. The cutlet will stay in the oven for 10-15 mins; don’t let them go beyond that as they will dry out.

Salad

·        4 cups Arugula

·        1 Tbls Lemon Juice

·        3 Tbls Olive oil

·        1 tsp Dijon mustard

·        Pinch of salt and pepper

·        ¼ cup crushed toasted hazelnuts

·        ½ cup halved seedless grapes (green and red or whatever you got)

Meanwhile rinse and dry Arugula. In a bowl whisk lemon juice, oil, Dijon, pinch of salt & pepper.  Right before plating the dish – dress the arugula and sprinkle the salad with the crushed hazel nuts. Add the grapes to the top of the salad on the plates.

Assemble

Heat the sauce. Warm the plates for a few seconds in the oven. Place the cutlet on the plate and add a mound of the filling on top. Drizzle sauce on the cheese filling and over the chicken (don’t totally cover the cutlet – I used a large spoon and poured the sauce across the middle of the cutlet and over the cheese). Then dress the salad and divide among the plates – add grapes to the top of the salad and garnish the plate with a few. Lastly drizzle some of the sauce around the plate – and serve.