This is something that I have worked on so many times and the basic recipe is the best. So I will tell you how to do it and then you decide what are your favourite accompaniments.
Firstly, the method for this requires chicken breasts, (hence escalopes). Secondly they should have no skin on. Thirdly, some chefs/cooks/piss artists will tell you to lay clingfilm all over the place and beat the crap out of the breast with a rolling pin. This is fine if you can handle the hassle, mess and prep. If you want to learn some good knife skills, then take the breasts and slice them in half with a sharp horizontal blade working its way through the breast. This can go wrong and if you make them too thin at one point, don't worry. All is not lost. All you need to do is get pieces that are relatively similar in width. It is good practice and you will feel proud of yourself.
Can I just add here that really sharp knives are the most important thing in the kitchen. Better than a good oven, great ingredients and so on. Without the sharp knives, cooking is prone to mistakes at the beginning, cuts or worse and a deflated sense of self confidence which is not your fault. So one can avoid all of this by investing in some sharp knives and a sharpener. Again, by doing this, your confidence and desire to cook will be big.
Back to the chicken.
Firstly, if you making this for 4, use 6 breasts because people will always want seconds.
SERVES 4
6 free range or organic chicken breasts - Why? Because they taste better than the super fat, battery farmed nonse. Believe me.
2 eggs, cracked and beaten in a bowl.
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed and added to the egg mix.
2 teaspoons of mixed herbs.
Lots of ground pepper
2 teaspoons of sea salt ground into the mix.
1 1/2 packets of natural breadcrumbs. Not that golden shite. It is shite.
(Optional to pack it out more, 1 plate of plain flour to dip into).
Now this requires more of everything than you would normally do. I have tried as I've said, so many ways to get this right and I have made mistakes so you don't have to.
Firstly, add everything except the chicken, flour and breadcrumbs to the beaten egg and beat it up. Plate the breadcrumbs, spread evenly for dipping the breasts in.
Next, take your thinnish chicken halves and dip them both sides into the flour. If you bypass the flour, then go straight to dipping them in the eggs and then the breadcrumbs. Cover both sides liberally, (keep topping up the breadcrumbs if you feel that you haven't quite got a coating), place on another plate.
Take a large frying pan and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil. This will look like a lot but you need it.
Whack the heat on high and heat the oil. Then place the first 4 breasts in the pan and turn heat down to medium/high. Fry for 2-3 minutes and keep checking for the deepish golden colour. Turn over and do the other side. 2-3 mins on each side will be plenty to cook them through and leave no pink. Remove from the pan and do next batch. There will be residual breadcrumbs in the pan which will start to burn. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon into kitchen roll and discard. All of this will take 10-12 mins to fry up 3 batches. You can then leave them on a plate in the oven set at 100C. Sorted.
You can cut the chicken pieces up smaller and make nuggets which kids love. You can also add more salt (which I do). These taste great with mustard, mayo and ketchup. I have cockney friends who have to put vinegar on anything fried, so here's another thing for your list.
Now what to have them with.
Chips are great. If you're making ones at home, don't bother. Buy some McCain Home Fry Oven Chip thingies and cook them as they tell you and add 3-5 more mins on. They are excellent.
Mash potato is wonderful and easy. Peel them and boil them before you put your first batch on and then you won't have the chicken too long in the oven before serving.
A sandwich. Niiiiice.
Anyway, you can add shavings of parmesan into the breadcrumbs for a twist which is nice. But I prefer it simple.
Also, a salad. My most favourite is the Israeli/Arabic salad of diced vine tomatoes, cucumber and red onion, with chopped coriander, lashings of extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste. This is heaven for me, especially in the summer when the veg are in season. The sweet juices and added salt from this salad mix so well with the mash and also the mustard from the chicken. Then you have the crunchy coated chicken, the comforting warmth of the mash and the crunchy loveliness of the salad.
A word about this salad. I had an ex girlfriend who was very English and didn't like my 'wet' salads. She, like a rabbit and children, preferred leaves as a salad. If this is your bag, then don't try it as the liquid from the tomatoes dominate and the olive oil and coriander make the flavours deeper than a crunchy leaf salad. But then, she became a nutritionist and would probably enjoy the merits of such a combo now. Plus the flavours and texture are great and she can fuck off.
Sorry. That is not normal for a cookbook. But we should be able to tell people to fuck off if they don't like what is good. Fuck opinion too! This is about fact.
I'm digging a hole here. Try to enjoy it and forget about me.
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