Another recipe, inspired by attempting to keep them easy, cut them down
for a single person (but still have some leftovers), draw on my
Grandmother's cooking advice, and save some apartment utility costs.
Okay, I hit the pantry and fridge to see what I had (Grandma's advice), I gathered what I thought might work and then hit
allrecipes.com for some guidance. After doing some searching, I came across the
Parmesan Crusted Chicken Recipe.
I looked at what I had available and decided to try some new things.
The recipe that I used appears below, and then I added some suggestions
to assist making it.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
- A sprinkle of Italian bread crumbs over the top
Directions
- Preheat the toaster over to 375 F
- Use oil or a spray to cover the baking dish to prevent sticking
- Mix mayo and shredded cheese in a bowl
- Take some of the mix and spread it on the top of each piece of chicken, & place them in the baking dish
- Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the chicken, not too much, but also not too little
- Slide the baking dish into the toaster over, and bake for approximately 50 minutes
And, when that is all done, you should have something that is approximately like this:
 |
| Apartment Style Chicken Breasts |
Okay,
if you don't want to scroll down any farther, suffice it to say that
this is awesome, and I will definitely be making it again. I simply ate
my dinner by cutting it on a plate, but I could see serving this over a
field of wild rice, or even just white/brown rice, or even with a side
of noodles.
Now, on to why I changed the recipe from the
original. Most of these decisions were made because of my experience of
cooking in an apartment for 1, but also by reading most of the comments
for the original recipe. Again Grandma's advice came to mind...
"recipes are a guideline, you have to use what you have on hand, and use your experience, and make it the way YOU want it..."
Once of the most awesome things about
allrecipes.com
is that you can change the number of servings you are looking for, and
it adjusts all of the ingredient amounts for you. I usually choose to
make 4 servings of recipes because it gives me dinner, and some
leftovers. And, reduces the number of things you might need to purchase
at the store.
I cut the breasts in half, because that makes them
the right size to put on a hamburger bun to eat as a sandwich, like for
lunch the next day. I used Italian blend shredded cheese because that is
what I had in the fridge. I used the Italian bread crumbs, because that
is all I use for bread crumbs because they already have some seasoning
in it, so I don't have to add it myself.
I
used the toaster oven because I'm mostly only cooking for me, it uses
less electricity than using the full oven, and in the summer it doesn't
over heat my apartment. Yes, it took me a while to find some casserole
and baking dishes that fit in the toaster oven, but Pyrex makes all
kinds of sizes and I found a set at Target.
I also reduced the
temp of the recipe, because I liked that baking it for a little longer
time keeps poultry more moist. Again, my Grandma's advice. Yes, I use an
instant thermometer to make sure that the food achieves the recommended
temps. Poultry is recommended to achieve 180 F, so that is why I kept
an eye on it starting at 45 mins. It took another 5 to get from 174 to
180.
Okay, I suppose you've been kind enough to scroll down this
far, so I'll close with this entry. I have several other ideas for
entries, so please bookmark my blog, use an RSS feeder, or go ahead and
join as a member. Carry on...and good luck cooking...
