Tag Archives: food

Recipe

CHICKEN CUTLET PARMESAN

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This week, I made chicken cutlet parmesan with pasta. This was Sam’s original request. I was working on the chicken parmesan, but then Jennifer came home and asked: “If you’re making us chicken cutlet parmesan, can your make extra for chicken parmesan heroes for my class?” “Sure,” I said. “Can you make a Meatball Parmesan hero too?” “Sure,” I said. “Can you make a salad?” “Sure,” I said. Then it was off to the market last night to buy everything but the bread for today. Good thing I’m on vacation huh.

I made us the chicken cutlet parmesan last night. I also made all the extra Chicken Cutlets last night. I posted the recipe for Chicken cutlets about a week ago. Funny how that worked out as you start with chicken cutlets. Here is the recipe for Chicken Parmesan:

COOKING UTENSILS

Shallow medium size bowl or soup bowl

Large Baking dish

Fork

Plate

Paring knife

tenderizer/mallet

large frying pan

spoon

INGREDIENTS:

4 – 6 boneless and skinless chicken breasts

2 cups Ma’s Spaghetti Sauce

16 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese

2 eggs

½ cup flavored breadcrumbs

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°. Slice mozzarella cheese in ¼ thick slices using a paring knife or cheese cutter. Add sauce to the bottom of a large baking dish and place near stove. Slice thick chicken breasts in half.  Pound all chicken using meat tenderizer/mallet to ½ inch thick. Beat eggs in medium size bowl.  Heat large frying pan and oil over medium high heat. Dip one chicken beast at a time into egg mixture. Then, coat with breadcrumbs by pouring ½ a cup of breadcrumbs into a clean dish.  Place chicken onto on top of breadcrumbs and press firmly using fork. Flip chicken over and press chicken into breadcrumbs. Lightly shake off excess breadcrumbs. Place chicken breast in frying pan and cook until breadcrumbs brown on both sides. Remove chicken breast to baking dish with sauce and sprinkle tops with parmesan cheese. Cover chicken with sliced mozzarella cheese (Grated mozzarella can also be used), and bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread, and/or Italian green beans.

See, this recipe is easy-peezy after making the cutlets! Chicken Parmesan is the recipe I made for Jennifer the night I proposed on our front porch. It is also her favorite. I think it Sam’s favorite too!

Here is how I made the party heroes:

Chicken Cutlet Parmesan (party sandwich)

Meatball Hero Parmesan (party sandwich)

Salad: Party Tray

© Russ Ahrens and The Magic of a Perfect Pairing, 2021

Restaurant Review

Taproom review—bayshore, ny

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On Monday night, I went out with two of my friends to the Taproom, a restaurant and bar located on Main Street in Bayshore. They serve a wide array of salads, sandwiches, burgers, and tacos, while also featuring a wide array of craft beers. Being that I’m not old enough to drink, I can’t say anything about the alcohol, but I can tell you the people sitting at the bar were very excited that the Islanders were scoring. I don’t know whether or not they won.

My friends and I were seated promptly upon arriving, and the tables were spaced nicely to accommodate for social distancing. Our waitress came over shortly after and asked us what we wanted to drink; we all ordered water. For appetizers, we opted for a plate of truffle fries and mac and cheese bites. The truffle fries were very flavorful, consisting of parsley, parmesan, and of course, truffle oil. It had been a while since we had them, and they are a favorite among all of us. The mac and cheese bites were tasty as well. We weren’t expecting there to be what seemed to be an anchovy dressing on them, but it added an interesting flavor to the mac and cheese. I would definitely be interested in trying a plate of mac and cheese there—the bites left me wanting more!

Onto our entrees, one friend ordered the Fried Wonton Duck Tacos. It came as a set of four tacos paired with chips and salsa. The chips were more chewy than expected, so we weren’t a huge fan of them. Our other friend ordered the Chicken Alla Vodka sandwich, since she loves Penne Alla Vodka, and enjoyed it as well. I ordered the Shrooms and Bulbs craft burger and the strawberry side salad with it. Both were phenomenal. I asked for my burger to be cooked ‘well done’ and I was impressed that it was cooked all the way through, since in the past I’ve found that can be hard to come by at restaurants. Another feature I like about the Taproom is that for their craft burgers and sandwiches, you can choose your side. You can either get french fries or sweet potato fries with your meal, or for an extra dollar, you can order Cajun fries, or for two dollars, you can choose from the strawberry side salad (this is also served as an entrée on their menu), truffle fries, or onion rings.  

Overall, the food was fabulous, but filling. Half of my burger and salad, along with half of my friend’s chicken alla vodka sandwich came home with us since we were so full. I’m looking forward to coming back here in the future, and maybe The Drunken Chef can write about the beer. In the meantime, you can check out the restaurant here. In addition to their Bayshore location, they are in Patchogue and Massapequa Park as well. 

Mac & Cheese bites
Truffle fries
Chicken alla vodka sandwich.
Fried Wonton Duck tacos

Recipe

Hot Dog Onions (spicy)

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This is the first recipe leading up to Memorial Day Weekend here in the United States. Print it out and save it. I’m picturing a nice sized three ring binder full of recipes for the year by the time we are finished with this project next May here at the Magic of a Perfect Paring!

INGREDIENTS :

¼ cup Ketchup

2 Onions

1 Tbsp. Olive oil

2 tsp. crushed red pepper

While hot dogs are cooking, make the onions:

Add oil to a medium sized non-stick frying pan and place on medium heat. Cut onions into large bite size pieces and add to pan.  Cook onions until translucent. Add ketchup and crushed red pepper and heat through. Serve on top of hot dogs or hamburgers.

NOTES

Serve Hot Dogs with spicy onions, chili, cheese, sauerkraut, relish, mustard, and ketchup.

Rubin Dawg = 1000 island dressing, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese melted on top.

Now Add Ketchup and a little Spicy Brown Mustard if you want.