2 August 2013
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Nut-Crusted Chicken Cutlets
One of my little pleasures in life is watching America’s Test Kitchen. While goofy and geeky (perhaps that’s why I like it), the team behind the show delivers interesting and informative recipes that make it easy to improve your cooking. Recently, I tried recreating their recipe for nut-crusted chicken cutlets and was very happy with the results.
The recipe tackles the common pitfalls of nut-crusted chicken: flavorless chicken and bland, burnt, soggy, or oily crust. There are several tricks they suggest. One of the most interesting is to use panko (Japanese style breadcrumbs) which do a better job of remaining crisp. They also suggest browning the butter in a skillet and then toasting the nuts and breadcrumbs so they begin to caramelize before you ever bread the chicken cutlets.
They further suggest salting the chicken and letting it rest for about thirty minutes before preparing the dish. This creates a dry brine, sealing in the chicken’s moisture. Finally, instead of frying in oil, you bake the breaded cutlets on a wire rack set above a baking sheet. This allows hot air to circulate, cooking and crisping the chicken on all sides without adding any more oil to the dish.
The end result was fantastic – one of the first times I’ve had a breaded chicken cutlet that was actually moist and flavorful. The crust was crisp and buttery but not greasy or heavy. Definitely a good technique and one I will repeat!
The show is produced by the publishers of Cooks Illustrated magazine. They don’t accept advertising so all their evaluations of recipes, ingredients, and equipment are made based on quality alone. Their approach to recipes is to figure out how to achieve great results consistently, eliminating the pitfalls that plague some dishes.
The thing I like best about the show is that it is one of the few cooking shows on television that is actually about cooking. So much of what we see these days is about food and eating but not that much about the technique of preparing the food. It is a refreshing return to how cooking shows started out.
Comments (22)
I have been lurking in the background reading your blog and I wanted to say how much I appreciate you taking the time to share your food blog. Thank you.
Looks and sounds great. But then I pretty much like anything chicken. I’m going to make my first Shrimp-n-Grits recipe this Sunday, Low Country style. I may have to take a page out of your book & post about it either here or on FB.
I always forget to watch America’s Test Kitchen, but I subscribe to Cook’s Country, their other magazine. It always has good recipes. There are some I’ve been making for years, and I have a stack of the magazines that I frequently consult.
I find the cooking shows on PBS are way better than food channel shows…the cutlets sound yummy and healthy!
I love those – found them on the menu at restaurant here but under another name!
That looks so good!! I’m very tempted to try it, next time I have chicken…..
And now, back to our regular programming (yay!) ~ ~That looks delicious, Chris! I’ve switched to panko for most breading needs — it stays crisper, and gives the food a little lift.
You seem like a person who would appreciate Penzey’s spices, if you don’t already. I love their catalog for the same reasons you said: goofy and geeky.
Yum
Glad you are interested in cooking, i am more into eating. When i was growing up in HK, we had a maid who cooks for the whole family. My dad had to pay her to show me how to cook an egg before i came to US to study. lol. I guess i was spoiled?
thank you
That chicken looks delicious. I’ll have to look for that show.
That looks so easy! I bet I could do it too – I even have a rack and cookie sheet! It all makes perfect sense… Thanks Chris!
@MOMAmarymatthew - Oh, thanks for the nice words. Glad you “come out of the shadows” to comment.@armnatmom - Please do write about it. I’m always looking for new recipes to try.@whyzat - While I never took a shine to Cooks Country, I have a stack of Cooks Illustrated magazines going several years back and do reference recipes from them regularly.@mlbncsga - I agree that PBS cooking shows seem generally more substantive.@Fatcat723 - As Billy Shakespeare wrote, “A chicken cutlet by any other name…”@ellie1945 - @murisopsis - Please do try it. It is so easy and the results are very nice.@slmret - Seriously, it really is back to Xanga life as usual, right? =D@sonnetjoy - I’ll take a look for those spices. Thanks for the suggestion.@stevew918 - @stevew918 - Well, every yin needs a yang and every cook needs an eater.@ata_grandma - Probably on Saturday mornings on your local PBS station, would be my guess.@angelbrown761 - @radio03 - Glad you enjoyed!
Just missed ATK for tonight. Guess I could stay up until 3am, but I won’t. I like shows that teach why they are doing something.
@christao408 - Almost — except for all those people who left in the confusion. I do hope some of them will come back!
That plate looks great. I have a problem with dry pork and chicken cutlets too if I bake or cook them in a pan. The BBQ seems to lock in juices when I cook meats on them tho.
@YourOuterCritic - Exactly – learn as you are entertained.@straw_hut - And the sad thing is that pork in the US has been bred to be so lean that keeping it moist is quite the challenge.
There is something to be said about taking time to show technique. A lot of what we see in popular culture is about the result, rather than the process. But, the process is usually the most instructive part. The chicken looks delicious!
I thought salting the chicken would draw the salt out. I’ll have to give this a try.
great job, chris. panko also helps for some crunch.
Interesting post and good tips. I love crusting chicken so I’ll have to try this out next time.