Parmesan crusted chicken with beurre blanc

Here's the recipe you've been looking for for a fancy date night, birthday celebration or other special occasion. There's nothing particularly difficult about this meal, it just takes a very long time to put together. But it's very, very tasty. It helps to have a cooking companion on this one - I was having a hard time keeping an eye on the beurre blanc while cooking the chicken. It helped when Hans came to take over. I think this meal would have been a little better, also, if I had pounded the chicken breasts a little thinner.

Side note: This recipe calls for 1/4 cup of white wine. I've really never bought wine before, which was a surreal experience. And it kind of sucked to buy a whole bottle just for that small amount. My co-worker benefited from that. But anyway, I went through the checkout line at HEB and they didn't card me. Umm... don't they have to card you til you're like, 40? Incidentally, about a week before that as I was chaperoning our stake's youth conference, the YW stake president was wondering why I didn't have a wristband before someone cleared up the confusion and let her know I was a leader, not a youth. So.... in a week's time I went from being 16 to 40. Either that or no one can determine the age of an Asian.

But I digress. You just want the recipe.

For the Beurre Blanc:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp. finely minced shallots
salt and white pepper
2 sticks of butter, cold, cut into 16 pieces

In a medium saucepan combine vinegar, wine, shallots, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer until it reduces until about 1.5 Tbsp. Remove from heat and immediately stir in two pieces of butter.

After the butter disappears, add another pieces. Stir continuously.

Return the pan to low heat and add the butter one piece at a time, waiting to add one piece until after the last one has completely melted. Keep stirring! When all of the butter has been added, remove from heat and serve. I wasn't quite ready when it was done, so I put it on the lowest hit and stirred frequently.

For the chicken:
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
4 large boneless, skinless breasts
4 eggs, beaten
½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup Panko
1 cup shredded Parmesan
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Start early - this needs to brine for two-three hours!

Take your chicken breasts (hopefully defrosted, mine were still a little cold!) and put them in a gallon-size plastic baggie. With a kitchen mallet (or ya know, a heavy wooden rolling pin, whatever works), pound the chicken breast thin. Aim for 1/2 inch thick.

In a medium bowl or dish, combine the chicken broth and salt. Add in the flattened chicken breasts, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Did you read a book? Take a nap? Good. Time to continue.

Remove the chicken from the brine and blot dry with paper towels.

Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Place flour onto a plate. Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper in another medium bowl. Dredge the chicken first in the flour (use your fingers to rub it in!), dip it into the beaten egg, and then dredge in the parmesan mixture. Make sure it coats really well. It helps to let it sit there for a few minutes, so that everything doesn't just fall off.

In a large skillet, heat some oil (twice around the pan is good) over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook 'til browned and done all the way through.

Top with beurre blanc and add some yummy sun-dried tomatoes! We served ours with white cheddar mashed potatoes - mmmmmm, mmmmmm! I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and it was just as good!