Everybody loves fried food. It may not be healthy but I think, for most of us, fried food is one of those guilty pleasures that we enjoy more than we care to admit. But how do they make those breaded and fried delights that we have come to love? Well let me tell you. Today we are going to talk about what we in the industry call a “standard breading station”. This is a process in which you bread your favorite piece of…anything really. You can bread chicken tenderloins for chicken tenders for the kids, or firm mozzarella for mozzarella sticks. There are so many options of things you can do after knowing the basics when it comes to breading. For this example, we breaded and fried some chicken breasts for some simple chicken parmesan that we made for dinner. My sous chef was back and was a huge help (my 11 year old daughter). So, let’s jump right in.
First thing you need to do is set up the breading station. This usually consists of three different plates or pans of all-purpose flour, eggs, and some kind of bread crumb. The first container is for the flour. I always use AP flour in my breading stations. I rarely see any use for another type of flour but I’m sure there is one. AP flour does its job of coating the item and soaking up all the moisture. I always season my flour with salt and pepper to make sure my breaded items are not bland. The second container is to be filled with whole eggs, beaten. This will coat the chicken with a liquid and allow the bread crumbs to stick to the item being fried. The last container should be filled with the type of breading you want to be most present in the flavor of the food you are frying. In the case of chicken parmesan, I used Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs. Panko or Japanese breadcrumbs are commonly used in this final stage of the breading process.
After you set up your three containers for breading we are ready to begin. Dredge, or coat your chicken in the flour. Make sure it is thoroughly coated, we don’t want any spots without flour, that will cause the eggs to not stick to the chicken. Shake off any access flour and dip in the eggs. You want the eggs to coat every part of the chicken. Lastly, take the chicken from the eggs, and dredge them in the bread crumb mixture. Cover them and make sure they are completely coated before you remove them. These chicken will go into a deep fryer preheated to 350 F. Fry until golden brown.
Ingredients
- 4 medium chicken breats
- 2 cups AP flour
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups Italian bread crumbs
- 4 cups marinara
- (1) 16 oz package of dried spaghetti or linguini, cooked
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup sherdded parmesan
- Salt and pepper, to taste
While the chicken is frying cook your pasta. I used some fresh pasta that I got from my local market. It only takes 2-3 minutes in boiling water. I did cheat on this batch and used store bought marinara. Shame on me! Sometimes you don’t always have the time to make everything from scratch. I will include a recipe for my marinara sauce in case you do have the time to make if for your dinner. When your chicken is done frying and your pasta is done cooking, you will need to finish preparing the chicken.
On your fried chicken spoon 2 Tablespoons of marinara onto each breast. Spread out the sauce evenly. Sprinkle with your mozzarella and parmesan mixture. Put into a 450 F preheated oven and cook until the cheese is golden brown. Make sure the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 F. If you are using particularly large chicken breasts you may need to bake them before putting sauce and cheese on them. In most cases, the frying for 5-7 minutes along with the toasting of the cheese will cook them through. If you have any doubts about the size of your chicken put into a 350 F oven for 5 minutes then proceed with the sauce and cheese step.
While the cheese is melting, toss your cooked pasta in your heated marinara. Once the chicken is ready, you are ready to serve. Learning to bread and fry your food instead of purchasing frozen prebreaded items is not only cheaper, and in my opinion, produces a much better product than one you can by in your frozen section at the store. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out via email or social media. Thanks for reading, cheers!
Marinara
- (2) 28 oz cans San Marzano tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 yellow onion, minced
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 3 large sprigs of fresh basil, torn into small pieces
- Salt and pepper, to taste
This is a very simple sauce recipe. It does take close to an hour, which I didn’t have the time for in the post above. But if you do, give this one a try. First, heat up a large sauce pan and saute your garlic and onions in the olive oil until they begin to brown slightly. Add in your tomatoes and pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for about an hour until the tomatoes are broken down and you have a chunky sauce consistency. Add your torn basil and season with salt and pepper. That’s it!