This is one of the first meals I saw when I flipped through the book. It instantly caught my eye. The picture is beautiful. The ingredients and instructions easy. Sounded like a match made in heaven. Then I saw the word anchovies. I shuddered. But keeping an open mind in this new project I moved forward and decided to make this meal.
First you start by pounding 2 chicken breasts split in half to 1/2 inch thickness. Which gives you four thin pieces of chicken. Pound them out in between two pieces of plastic wrap for a smoother hit and less mess to clean up. Then get your breading station ready. One bowl with about 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper. One bowl with two lightly beaten eggs. And one bowl with about a cup of panko bread crumbs with salt and pepper. The flour and Panko should have enough seasonings in them so that you can visibly see it. Then begin the breading process. Dip the chicken in the flour first. Then the egg. Finally the Panko shaking off any excess at each station. Lay the chicken on a plate and refrigerate for 10 minutes so that the breading can dry out and make sure that it stays on during the frying process.
Meanwhile, you can start on the sauce. This is all that you will need. A blender, two egg yolks, a clove of garlic peeled and smashed, the juice of two lemons, 4 anchovy fillets, 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese, olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
Combine the anchovy fillets, lemon juice, egg yolks, and garlic and blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Stream in 1/2 cup of olive oil while the blender is on until the sauce thickens. Afterwards toun the blender off and stir in the cheese and a few cranks of pepper.
Place the sauce in the fridge if you do not intend to use immediately.
After ten minutes in the fridge heat a large skillet with two inches of oil to about 350 degrees to fry the chicken. Place the chicken in the oil ONLY when is is hot, otherwise you get greasy chicken. Fry until golden brown and then drain on paper towel lined plates. DO NOT overcrowd the pan because you will drop the temperature and cause longer cooking time which will in turn make your chicken retain more oil=greasy chicken. No one likes greasy chicken.
After the chicken if finished cooking its time to assemble your plate. Place a little bit of the anchovy sauce in the bottom of a bowl and combine with arugula or mixed greens, grape tomatoes and bocconcini (fresh mozzarella balls) Place the chicken on the place with a drizzle of the sauce on top and a side of lemon wedges and you are set to go!
I think this pretty much sums up dinner. The all around perfect bite. A little chicken, mozzarella, tomato and arugula with sauce. All in all I really surprised myself. I took a chance on the anchovies and guess what....I LOVED the sauce! It was different than anything I had ever made before but oh oh so delicious! The chicken was light and crispy which was the perfect compliment to the soft tomatoes and mozzarella in the salad. This was a fantastic meal and hats off to Tyler Florence. He has yet to let me down.
Tyler (my Tyler!) enjoyed the mozzarella ball immensely! He threw the lettuce on the ground but ate everything else! Cam ate the chicken and cheese, but hey, at least he ate it!
One more recipe down and I cant wait to start on the next!
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