“Milanese” means breaded and sautéed chicken, mostly, that goes hand in hand with a citrusy salad. It’s making a debut on this blog. I served the chicken and salad Milanese for dinner the other day. Little did I know, it brought back fond childhood memories for my husband. So this dish is a win no matter what.
If I have to do one thing differently, it’d be to look for a thinner cut of the skinless chicken cutlets. A thinner and lighter piece of chicken would invariably make it easier to bread and to cook evenly.
I followed Dorie’s cue to bread the cutlets ahead of time. Season the bread crumbs and eggs with salt and pepper. Put the bread crumbs (in this case, I used panko) and lightly beaten eggs in separate bowls. Then dredge the cutlets through the bread crumbs, the eggs and crumbs again.
A quick tip: A few hours of chilling in the fridge, uncovered, gives the coating time to firm and dry a bit. Hence, a crisper cutlet.
Sauté the cutlets over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet coated with olive oil and butter, until the breading is golden. Quickly, turn and sear the other side. Since I have limited experiences in making cutlets, I turn to the oven (set at 350°F) to finish cooking them. My worst fear is overcooking the cutlets. By the way, when the interior temperature (measured by inserting a Thermapen in the meat) reaches 147°F, the cutlet is done, unfailingly.
To make the salad, toss celery, cucumber, bell pepper, herbs and greens into a bowl. Dress it with an emulsion of olive oil, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. It’s a bright citrusy all-green salad that makes good company with the chicken Milanese.
6 Comments
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)
October 11, 2019 at 8:19 amOh looks good with Panko. I had run out (and the recipe said small breadcrumbs so even though I wanted to go get Panko, I used what was on hand and it was good but I think the crispiness of the Panko would be awesome too! Next time! Loved this!
betsy
October 12, 2019 at 12:08 pmI enjoyed this too! It brought back childhood memories. My mom used to make chicken cutlets (with Parm in the breading) that we called Chicken Fish. I particularly enjoyed the citrusy salad dressing which I’ll add to the rotation.
Mary Hirsch
October 12, 2019 at 2:11 pmI had some boneless, skinless, boneless chicken breast tenderloins in the recesses of my freezer and I just decided to pull them out to use. Sorta glad I did. To claim that the chicken breasts I saw at the store were hefty, is an understatement. The tenders were about 2 ounces each and they cooked quickly and maintained a light brown color (well, honestly, my first two were crispy to burned). I pounded them to an acceptable thinness (not as thin as Dorie’s) by using my cast iron frying pan. I’m glad your husband recalled some breaded cutlet memories. I really liked the salad. A keeper, for sure.
Tricia S
October 13, 2019 at 7:17 amOh my yours look gorgeous ! So fun that this brought back family memories to so many folks 🙂 I really have to get this back into rotation at my house, a la the Dorie version too. You really mastered the timing and finish on that crust and I appreciate the comments about how to get it even crispier, thanks !
Chez Nana
October 13, 2019 at 11:13 amI never think to use Panko for breading but after seeing how good your cutlet looks, I am going to try that. Nice that this was a fond memory for your husband, this is also something that my kids grew up on.
steph (whisk/spoon)
October 13, 2019 at 12:29 pmthe most beautiful plate! glad to know the panko works– i debated using it, and next time i will!