Hyper Fixation Meal - Crispy Chicken Cutlets & Dilly Aioli

Do you ever have a meal that you're eating with an embarrassing and, frankly, alarming frequency? This is that meal for me right now.

This meal is really all I’ve wanted lately. I have been eating it with an embarrassing and alarming frequency. I like using aioli, thinned with some acid, as a salad dressing. This is not revolutionary but is delicious and satisfies my never-ending need for “creamy” foods. Why am I like this?

You do not need flour for this recipe! It is a totally unnecessary step. The panko sticks to the egg, ya know?

What is important is seasoning the chicken well, so I go to the trouble of doing a dry salt brine overnight. I know, I know, how annoying! But the great benefit to doing the pounding and the brining the day before is that fussing with the chicken can become tedious and time-consuming, especially when doubling or tripling this recipe.

So when you can get stuff done in advance, do it. You’ll quickly see how much easier and more fun cooking can be when you do as much prep in advance as possible. The dilly aioli and the chicken prep can all be done in advance here.

Ingredients for the chicken cutlets (serves two, one with leftovers or one very hungry person):

• 1 chicken breast

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup panko (I think Trader Joe’s panko is the best consistency and value)

• Hot sauce of choice, just a few dashes

• S/P

• 1/4 cup neutral oil for frying, such as canola, or use “frying” olive oil if you’re avoiding seed oils like I am

• Pickles for serving

Ingredients for the salad + dilly aioli:

• 1/2 head of butter lettuce, washed, dried, and roughly torn into big chunks

• 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

• 1/2 bunch of dill, roughly chopped

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving

• 1 tbsp mayonnaise

• 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar

• 1 clove of garlic, grated on a microplane

• Block of parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Chicken prep: slice the chicken breast in half horizontally to make two thin cutlets. Place one cutlet at a time in between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap, and use a small, heavy-bottomed pan to pound them to about 1/4 inch thick each.

   1. Tip: season them with salt on both sides and set them in the fridge to dry brine up to overnight. Sure, you can skip this step, but I don’t know…I think chicken breast, in particular, really benefits from it! Your future self will thank you.

2. Essential step: remove the cutlets from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking them. Room temp meat always turns out juicier and more tender than fridge-cold meat.

3. While the cutlets are coming to room temperature, beat one egg in a wide, shallow plate or bowl until it’s foamy.

   1. Tip: Season the egg with a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce. The hot sauce does two important jobs - it adds a deep golden color to the finished product, which is important because we eat with our eyes first. And, of course, flavor.

4. Place the panko in another wide, shallow dish. Feel free to get creative with the panko seasoning - a pinch of parmesan cheese, crushed fennel seeds, or Aleppo pep would all be fun additions. In this instance, I just left it plain & classic.

5. Prepare your salad dressing by whisking mayo, dijon mustard, grated garlic clove, white vinegar, dill, lemon juice, and s/p.

6. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the cutlets, pressing lightly so they make full contact with the skillet. Cook for 2-3 mins per side or until the panko is fully golden brown on both sides. Remove from the oil to a paper towel-lined plate. I don’t add any more salt at this point because the chicken is plenty salted from the dry brine.

   1. Tip: if you are cooking more than two cutlets, it’s normal to have to pause to remove the burnt panko crumbs from the hot oil before adding the next batch of chicken to the pan. While annoying, making an effort to do this will result in a more evenly colored and presentable cutlet.

7. To serve, toss the butter lettuce & radish with the dilly aioli vinaigrette, shave some parm on top, and plate with lemon wedges & pickles.

8. Martinis, orange natural wine, or ice-cold beers are optional but strongly recommended pairings for this meal.