Rec/Rev/Pics....Bruschetta Chicken-a redo of an old favorite...

[Jerryanne]

Our garden is really starting to produce as of late and when it does, I like to take full advantage of whatever it's willing to give me.

Last Monday, I had thawed out chicken for dinner, not knowing how I was going to fix it-pretty typical for me. When I saw that some of the tomatoes were really ripe and ready to eat, and the parsley and basil needed some "pinching back", it made me think about Bruschetta. We love the stuff and try and have it at least a couple times with garden fresh tomatoes and herbs.

Suddenly I remembered a recipe that I hadn't made in a very long time....and it would combine the 2 things I needed to use.......chicken and tomatoes....Bruschetta Chicken.

Since I have every Taste of Home magazine from the premiere edition to now filed in a file cabinet-and was VERY good at one time about indexing the recipes I want to try and highlighting the ones I have and loved, I grabbed the Index binder and found the magazine from 2001.

In looking at the recipe, I realized I wanted to do a few things different this time. Back in 2001, grocery stores weren't carrying Panko bread crumbs. I use them either alone or mixed with regular bread crumbs when a crumb coating is required.....I love the crunch they add. I also like to season flour when doing a "triple dip" coating...I like flavor from the get-go.

When I crumb coat chicken, I like to give it a quick browning in a skillet before baking it in the oven.......I love a nice golden coating on both sides of the chicken and find this method gives me just what I want.

The Bruschetta topping in the original recipe was pretty close to what I make but I always add a touch of onion, fresh parsley and balsamic vinegar to mine, then reach for my Microplane and the wedge of Parmesan or Romano cheese to give it a quick finishing touch.



I had a mixture of tomatoes, heirloom, regular and cherry, that needed used. I squeezed the seeds out of the large tomatoes. the cherry tomatoes, I just quartered.

This dish went together fairly quickly and is it ever delicious. Both Bob and I liked the crispy texture the Panko bread crumbs gave the chicken and the tomato topping really added a wonderful flavor. The chicken breast halves were HUGE so we split a piece the 2 nights we had them and were plenty satisfied.

What did I do with the remaining 2 pieces? I had a partial box of spaghetti that I wanted to use last night so I went back to another old favorite recipe for Spaghetti Pie, made the crust as written, topped the crust with cottage cheese that needed used up (had I not had cottage cheese to use, I would have reached for ricotta-that would have ROCKED as a base for the chicken), scraped the tomato topping off of the 2 pieces of chicken that were left, cut the chicken into cubes, sprinkled them over the cottage cheese, spread the tomato topping over the chicken and popped it into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. I removed it from the oven, sprinkled 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella over the chicken and back into the oven it went for 5 minutes until the cheese was melted.

That "pie" is DELICIOUS......with some steamed fresh broccoli on the side and we were more than satisfied.

So the "redo" of one favorite recipe ended up turning into a remix that created 2 fabulous NEW dishes I know I'll be making again...and another bonus? Those 4 over-sized chicken breast halves (that I got on sale for $1.99/lb.) fed us the whole week and into the weekend......sure can't beat that deal!


Carol




BRUSCHETTA CHICKEN
(Source: adapted from Taste of Home August/September 2001-original recipe found HERE)

1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten with 2 tsp. water
1/2 c. Panko bread crumbs
1/4 c. seasoned bread crumbs
3/8 c. grated Parmesan cheese
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

TOPPING:
2 large or 3-4 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I use a mixture of regular and cherry tomatoes-I don't seed the cherry tomatoes, I just quarter them)
3 Tbsp. minced fresh basil
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. finely minced onion
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (about 2-3 Tbsp.) for sprinkling over top

Combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper in a shallow bowl; mix well.

Place the beaten eggs and water in a separate bowl.

In a shallow bowl or glass pie plate, combine the Panko bread crumbs, seasoned bread crumbs and 3/8 c. Parmesan cheese; mix well.

Dip each chicken breast in the flour, tapping off any excess, then into the egg, coating well, then lastly into the bread crumb mixture, making sure to press the crumbs onto both sides of the chicken to fully coat.

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil plus 1 Tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan; brown chicken over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.

Place the chicken in a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Bake, uncovered, @ 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear and a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.

Meanwhile, for the topping, combine chopped tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, vinegar, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl; mix well.

Spoon the tomato mixture over each piece of chicken. Return to the oven and bake @ 375 degrees for 3-5 minutes or until tomato mixture is heated through. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 4 servings.

[Christine Mlinek]

looks really tasty! Aren't those HUGE chicken breasts the best to work with? You can get so much out of them!

I checked out the spag. pie too that looks yum as well!

[Jerryanne]

It definitely saves on cooking for the rest of the week! We ate CHEAP last week and loved every minute of it.

That Spaghetti Pie is very good and worked SUPER using the chicken instead of the ground beef.....that crust can hold all kinds of goodies!

[Christine Mlinek]

the chicken out here are HUGE too. one side of the breast is bigger than my whole hand!! one can feed us both!

[Jerryanne]

That's the way these were-which is why 4 pieces fed us for the week......and one more day. That's cool-we had a "Cheap Eats" week which is always a good thing.

[Smokeysmomm]

Oh man am I hungry........ what time is dinner? I can't wait until I can cook and bake again...... thanks for the yummy pics and recipes sis.

[Jerryanne]

Whenever you get here!

I can't wait until you can cook and bake again either...wish I could have emailed you some chicken!

[Ann M]

Carol,this looks Delicious!. I do the same thing to,I like to crisp chicken in a pan,before I put it in the oven.thanks,this recipe,will come in handy.some days,you just don't know what to do with chicken.this would be perfect!

[Jerryanne]

Are you getting the well endowed chicken breasts at your grocery store Ann? Good GRIEF! These lasted us all week!

I agree-there's some days when you just need something a little different to do with chicken-this is a good one-and a good home for fresh basil, parsley and tomatoes too!

[Christine Mlinek]

It is just too bad we don't have any more tomatoes from the garden, gonna have to break down and buy a few.