Panko Crusted Italian Chicken
This past weekend we went to my favorite Sushi restaurant here in Orlando, Fuji Sushi. Fuji’s is our favorite sushi restaurant in town; the only sushi I have had better is Nobu in New York City. But I don’t include atmosphere in my opinion, this restaurant is in an old drive through restaurant, so it would be considered a dive. But atmosphere (the type of building, the decor, and the furniture) means little to us, its all about the food, the service, and the people who eat there. That’s what makes a truly great dining experience for us.
This was the first time we dared to go since we had our son. Since he was born, my husband has been making regular trips for takeout. Every time we order, we get my son a tempura plate and he tries a little of whatever we get. Lucky for us, they had a small booth open, the kind you sit Indian-style at. As soon as we sat down, I ordered my son a kid’s platter, with two huge shrimp tempura, chicken nuggets, fries and even a salad. He grabbed one shrimp and at half of it. I thought to myself, I’ll just take it home and try to feed it to him tomorrow, and maybe it won’t be a complete waste.
Then our food came. Between my husband and myself, we ordered four rolls, all with fish inside and on top. He grabbed for the rolls and at a whole roll by himself. He then grabbed all the fish off the top of another roll (he didn’t like the inside of that one, the rainbow roll) and ate almost all of it. I thought, holy cow, my son has developed a very expensive taste for sushi. That’s OK though, next time we’ll know to skip the “kid’s meal.” He did enjoy the ice cream for dessert though that came with the meal. It came in the cutest globe shaped container. I want to get some of them for home, but I haven’t been able to locate them on the Internet. I’ll have to ask where they got them on our next trip.
Last night I asked if my son wanted chicken strips, and he said, “No mommy, I want shrimp!” Well this isn’t a seafood restaurant or sushi bar, so I decided to try and dress up his chicken strips a little more to make them more appealing. That’s when I thought of an Italian chicken strip. It was a hit, and one of the easiest recipes. I recently discovered Italian breadcrumbs at my grocery store. They are just regular Panko crumbs with Italian seasonings added. I combined them with some Parmesan to make a perfect Italian inspired Panko crusted chicken strip. To top it off, these are oven fried, so they are extra nutritious. I served them with sauteed broccoli rabe and oven roasted corn on the cob.
Yield: Serves 4
Panko Crusted Italian Chicken
3.50 stars (20 reviews)
Loading...Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 box of Italian style Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I like Kraft in the non-refrigerated area of the grocery store for use in breadings)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
olive oil or another type of oil spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut up chicken and add to a large bowl. Scramble eggs and pour over top Add salt and pepper. Stir to combine and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan in a bowl. Bread chicken. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, or baking rack on a baking sheet. Sprinkle extra crumbs on top of chicken. Spray with oil. Bake chicken for 30-45 minutes, or until chicken is firm, browned, and has an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
