It’s Not Spring Until There's a Chicken Cutlet Involved
It's called self-care
Spring is supposedly springing even though it’s currently cold and raining. Regardless, the calendar says it’s spring, and I need a chicken cutlet.
For whatever reason, the first inkling of spring means putting together this special meal that is full of little details, and takes a little bit of extra time, but the result is stunning and screams “YO IT’S GETTING NICE OUTSIDE BUT HOLD UP BECAUSE YOU STILL NEED TO WEAR A COAT.” Cozy but also fresh. Bright but also savory.
I don’t do fussy foods, and this chicken cutlet is about as fussy as it gets. A nice chicken cutlet piled high with a crunchy and herby salad feels special, but not over the top. I consider it self-care when coming out of a winter hibernation.
To make a cutlet, most recipes require an elaborate setup and process that involves dunking the chicken into a combination of flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs (this house is strictly a panko household). But alas—there is an easier, less-messy way that results in juicy chicken that absolutely is not dry. Enter
’s sour cream and chive chicken, which does NOT use either flour OR eggs—groundbreaking! Instead, you marinate the chicken in—you guessed it—sour cream and chives and then take it straight into panko. In addition to making significantly less of a mess, this keeps it supremely flavorful and not too bready.How to pound chicken
Speaking of bready, after a little trial and error (in other words, I totally botched this recipe the first time I made it. Growth!) the key to this recipe is getting the chicken to the right thickness.
You want the cutlet to be thin—that’s what’s going to make it cook quickly—but not too thin that all you taste are the breadcrumbs. You also really don’t want the chicken to be thick because it won’t cook evenly, and the panko will burn.
To do this, I butterflied two boneless chicken breasts to make four cutlets. Then I placed each cutlet between two sheets of parchment paper on top of a cutting board and used a small cast iron skillet to pound.
It takes a little bit of elbow grease to get the chicken thin but restrain yourself from going overboard.
Next, you will also need to prepare for A LITTLE grease mess. To be clear, this is A SHALLOW-FRY SITUATION—no deep-frying here. You only need enough oil to hit the sides of the chicken in the skillet. Do not let this mess deter you from the joy of a chicken cutlet. Clean your kitchen afterwards. Live your life.
The sky’s the limit with salad
In a surprise to no one, I live for a dramatic moment, and the salad that I serve with this cutlet is nothing if not dramatic.
I sliced fennel (yes, again using a mandolin) and tossed it with arugula, radishes, dill, olive oil, my favorite champagne vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Now is time for the most important part of this entire endeavor: PILE the chicken with as much salad as possible. The goal is to get this stuff sky-high and directly onto the cutlet—ideally higher than the thickness of the chicken itself.
This is purely for aesthetic purposes. But I mean ….
You should also absolutely grate parm over everything, essentially making this a chicken Caesar salad. For the ultimate Basic Girl (but elevated!) meal, pair it with a glass of crisp white wine.
Devour immediately, relex, and remember that warm weather is indeed almost here!!
Show me the leftovers
Let’s talk leftovers, my favorite topic.
A Caesar salad wrap is obvious but also delicious. Chop up the chicken with romaine, parm, and croutons, whip up a dressing like this (Molly Baz is after all the queen of Caesar salad), and fold it in a big wrap.
Chicken parm. Ok I admit this is *extra* but you could heat up a leftover cutlet in a skillet, add some tomato sauce, melt a piece of mozzarella over the cutlet, and sprinkle some basil over it. 100% guarantee that nobody would complain about chicken parmesan.
Katsu curry. You’re already halfway there to make katsu curry. But what makes katsu, in my opinion, is a super flavorful sauce that includes things like onion, curry, ginger, chicken stock, and carrots. These two sound good to me!
I pulled the trigger on these tortoiseshell short tumbler glasses from my beloved East Fork. They’re so fun for cocktails or just a chic option for water!
Other good stuff from East Fork’s spring collection:
The color combo of green and purple.
Linen napkins and also a tablecloth.
Enamelware! At a ceramic pottery company!
One more thing from my recent trip to Las Vegas: This “gintonico” (yes, really!) from Orla with Hendrick’s gin, cucumber, mint, juniper, grapefruit, black lemon, and Fever Tree tonic water. It was delicious.
Need to replicate this at home immediatately.
That’s all for today—see you next week!!!
Absolutely will overcome my fear of touching raw chicken to make this recipe!! It sounds (and looks!!) sooooooo good!