chicken parm

My husband, Jay, turned 30 this week, and to celebrate I decided to make him his favorite dish.... chicken parm!  It's not exactly my favorite meal as I'm not too big on breaded chicken and it always seems too "heavy" of a meal.  However, this time I made it with very thin chicken cutlets instead of a big hunk of chicken breast.  This made a world of difference, and I even managed to eat an entire piece by myself instead of passing my leftovers on to Jay's plate.  I will also forgive Jay for saying to me while cooking in the unbearably hot kitchen: "wow, if only you were pregnant" to which I replied "excuse me??" to which he in turn said "that's how I like my women... sweaty, pregnant with an apron on, and cooking me chicken parm."  I almost smacked him and swore off chicken parm forever, but then I remembered that it was his 30th birthday and he must be suffering from some old-timers condition that makes you say stupid and offensive things.

Ingredients:
1 lb. very thin chicken cutlets.  You can also use chicken breast, but cut in half and pound till thin, about 1/4"
1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 cups plain bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tsp. milk
12 oz. marinara sauce (I used my homemade sauce, but you will never get that recipe as it is a Bartolone family secret)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
Olive oil spray
Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Set up three bowls: #1 - Mix milk and egg together with fork, #2 - Flour, #3 - Breadcrumbs
3. Rinse and pat dry chicken.  Season with salt and pepper
4. Put chicken in bowl with flour, make sure the entire piece gets covered with it
5. Dip chicken in egg/milk mixture
6. Place chicken in breadcrumbs and make sure the piece gets completely covered
7. Spray large skillet with olive oil spray and cook chicken approx. 3 minutes each side.  Place on paper towels when done.
8. Spray large glass dish with olive oil.  Spoon about 1/8 cup of marinara sauce and spread out on bottom of pan.
9. Place chicken in pan.  Do not overlap.

10. Top with mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce.
11. Cook until sauce is slightly bubbly and chicken is cooked all the way through.  Serve with your choice of pasta.

We enjoyed this with a nice spinach, onion, roasted plum tomato, blue cheese and balsamic vinegar salad.  Yum!

I don't want to assume anything, but Jay seemed pretty pleased with his birthday meal.

Or maybe it was just the wine?