Ali's Kitchen: Herbed Chicken Cutlets with SURPRISE! Sides

I am fulfilling my promise of cooking something from a hallowed or otherwise off-line cookbook. Sort of. I took a basic from Joy of Cooking and modified it, mostly using the recipe for timing and measurements.

We started off with your basic "Sautéed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts" (page 587 in the 1997 version). This suggests (with my notes as parentheticals) that you:

"Rinse and pat dry 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (we're using 3, just over 1 lb.)... If you wish (I did), remove the tenderloins. Sprinkle both sides with salt and ground black pepper to taste (we have a rainbow pepper grinder instead; you can also mix this into the flour mixture below instead of adding to chicken first). Spread on a plate 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Now, here is the big deviation. We're ALSO adding about 1/3 cup Manchego cheese...

(Grated like zees, on zee small side, not zee zesting side.) (That is, if you're using 3-month Manchego, or other only semi-hard cheese. If the cheese is harder, like Parmesan, it won't gum up in the zesting grates as much.)

... And some (1/4 c. total?) fresh chopped thyme and sage. Mmmmm.

The Joy of Cooking version continues:

"Coat the chicken on both sides with the flour (mixture) (dredge in egg or milk first)... Gently shake off the excess...

Small kitchens: The bane of every multi-process recipe.

"Heat in a heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant and nut-brown 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. (I halved this, so as to add oil on an as-needed basis. Ended up using about this amount of oil/butter.) Swirl the butter and oil together... Sauté for exactly 4 minutes, keeping the fat as hot as possible without letting it burn..."

(yeah, I suck at that)

" Using tongs, turn the chicken and cook until the flesh feels firm to the touch and milky juices appear around the tenderloins, 3 to 5 minutes more."

However, at 4x4, our chicken still is not done. Nor at 5x5 (minutes, that is). While we wait for it to stop bleeding, let us ponder a great question. Cat bums: They are cute, yet they do gross things. In other words, it's the ultimate Essentialist vs. Existentialist quandary ("to be or to do," which one defines us?). Which side wins out?

In sum, the Plato vs. Sartre cage match still isn't over.

Now we come to the SURPRISE! sides. They're called that for 2 reasons.

1: We (being the feline sous chef and myself) were planning to cook pasta, until, SURPRISE! We saw that the potatoes? The ones we cooked last week? For "Thanksgiving?" Weren't oddly-colored and, in fact, still smelled quite good. Reduction of labor by reheating leftovers = über win. If I end up in hospital from a fungal stomach infection, you'll know why. Hey, anything in the name of Cheap.

2: So, when you get greens such as arugula, spinach, or in this case, mizuna, you generally expect them to be crisp and fresh, yes? And to smell like arugula, spinach, or in this case, mizuna (oh my GOD, I'm going to miss NYC grocery stores when we move)? Yeah, well, sometimes this happens:

SURPRISE!

In this case, you either run to the grocery store or stick your head in the oven* freezer. And, in OUR case, you find:

I would like to go to Bruges, if not so much Brussels.
You know what I'm gonna do, boy howdy? I'm gonna a) defrost them, at about 2 minutes less than the package directions, and b) sauté 'em as though they were pasta: With some butter and sage, because I've never had them (to my recollection; don't ask why I got them), and all I've heard is how bad they smell while cooking.

Sage like zees. Le chop chop.
Butter and sage should mitigate that a little, yes? Here's hoping.

Aaaand, here's the finished product:

Le yum yum.

You may notice that the chicken breast is actually halved. Well, that's because THEY WOULDN'T COOK. I was a good little chef: I waited 5 minutes or so before even checking inside... and they were STILL PINK. The timing was a lie, a LIE!

RECIPE ROUNDUP
Favorite thing about this dish: What is the deal with vilifying Brussels sprouts? I found mine positively enjoyable, and they certainly didn't stink up the place while cooking. Perhaps it was all the sage and butter?

Least favorite thing about this dish: Are they kidding me with the timing? If it's really 4 minutes per side - for modern-sized chicken breasts (i.e., Frankenstein) - then I will eat my hat. I'll eat my hypothetical hat, that is, before I will eat that pink chicken. The chicken took fully 10+ minutes total, and was not overcooked. That's at LEAST an extra minute per side. Oh, and then? I stuck the piece I was actually eating in the MICROWAVE for 45 seconds, and it's STILL tender as I type all this out, about an hour later. Joy of Cooking can kiss my rump. Or perhaps I am just really, really bad at cooking poultry. (A distinct possibility, and a good explanation for why I gravitate toward red meat.)

Surprising thing about this dish: Manchego cheese: Not just for pairing with Goya guava paste anymore. I used Manchego on a whim (ON SALE), but was nervous about the texture, and the combination of thyme and sage with it - instead of olives, which seem to be the only non-fruit-related "seasoning" people pair with Manchego outside of the Iberian peninsula. Everything worked beautifully.

New skill learned: Not necessarily listening to recipes re: timing. I used to think I would overcook by default if I went above the recommended time. Not so, grasshopper, not so.

* Kidding. Plus, I don't think you can even really do that with today's ovens.