Chicken Milanese With Salad

We love anything Italian in our home and our nine-year-old granddaughter, Annabelle, has perfected the crispy cutlet in this Chicken Milanese With Salad. The traditional dish in Italy is made with veal but chicken or pork also work well.

The Chicken

A couple of notes about the ingredients for the chicken in this dish. Use unseasoned panko bread crumbs, so you can control the seasoning. Also, since panko flakes are larger than traditional bread crumbs, the result is crispier chicken.

To make thin chicken cutlets use a sharp, flexible Boning Knife to cut the boneless breasts in half horizontally to create cutlets about one-half-inch thick.

Try to make the cutlets around the same thickness. Use a meat mallet or back of an Ice Cream Scoop to pound down any thick parts.

When pan frying the chicken, keep a close eye on them because the type of cooktop and type of pan you’re using can affect how fast the cutlets cook and how well they brown. Make sure the outside is a golden brown and the inside is cooked until firm to the touch (165 F).

The Salad

The salad is a simple one but has layers of flavor from a mixture of greens, veggies and fruit.

The 7″ Santoku knife is a good choice for prepping a lot of the ingredients, including slicing the bell peppers.

Rinse the knife and then use it to slice the fennel.

For tips on cutting fennel, Cutco has a great tutorial to walk you through it.

Another great vegetable prep knife is Cutco’s 6″ Vegetable Knife. Use it to slice the cucumber.

For slicing the peeled orange, a knife with a Double-D® edge, like the Trimmer, works great. It can easily cut through the juicy citrus to create even slices.

When it comes to the pomegranate, take a look out Cutco’s How to Cut a Pomegranate video, which shows how easy it is to do using a 4″ Gourmet Paring Knife.

Serving it Up

The crispy chicken itself is worth making, but adding the salad takes it to a whole other level. The earthiness of the greens and bell pepper, combined with the slightly licorice taste of the fennel and fresh flavors of orange, cucumber and pomegranate make it shine.

We love to pair wine with food, but, salad dressing is not always easy to pair because of the acidity. However, if you are using milder, aged balsamic vinegar, you have more options. One of the oldest wine pairing tips is, “If it grows together, it goes together.” This suggests Italian wine with Italian food, French with French, and so on. For this recipe, I suggest an Orvieto or Verdicchio from Italy, or an unoaked chardonnay, pinot noir or cabernet with softer tannins.

This Chicken Milanese With Salad is a quick, easy and complete meal, but if you wanted to serve the salad separately, you can. The leftover chicken is also great for use in other recipes.