Turkey Scaloppini With Parmesan Herb Crust
serves four
A delightful combination of seasoned poultry and tasty greens that matches well with Chardonnay. The other member of the tasting panel suggests that this could be used as a good starter course if served salad style, before a pasta main course. Take note of my note about the oil, salt and lemon for the salad mix.
You’ll Need:
1 1/2 lbs. Boneless skinless poultry breast cutlets See Woody’s Way below
Dash coarse sea salt (gray salt)
Dash freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs or Italian Style Bread Crumbs
2 cups finely shredded Parmesan and Romano cheese blend 50/50
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (gray salt)
Dash freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 eggs
About 1 ½ cups of olive oil for frying (not extra virgin) you may need less depending on the size and shape of your skillet
For the Arugula Salad:
About 8 cups arugula (4 oz)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt (gray salt)
Freshly ground black pepper
Shredded cheese blend from above
2 Fresh lemons, for juice
1 lemon, quartered
Woody’s Way – Turkey works and tastes good in this recipe and I even found sliced cutlets from the Purdue/Jenni’o brand that worked just fine, but they are more expensive than chicken. Frankly you’ll never realize the taste difference so boneless, skinless chicken breasts are fine but you will have to flatten them, or look for packaged chicken cutlets.
Here’s What To Do:
If you use chicken breasts (or if you were to find a fresh, whole turkey breast) you’ll have to filet them and place the filets between sheets of plastic wrap and pound them to 1/8-inch thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Sprinkle with a dash salt and pepper pressing the seasonings into the meat with your fingers.
In small bowl, mix bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and dash pepper. Add 2 tablespoon olive oil; work with fingers to moisten the crumbs lightly, should hold together loosely. Gather three pie pans or shallow dishes, spread mixture onto one pan. Spread flour on another pan. Beat eggs slightly with fork and pour into pie plate.
Have a baking sheet handy. Dip the poultry slices into the flour to coat both sides; shake off any excess flour. Dip into eggs, letting any excess drip back into the bowl. Coat completely with bread crumb mixture, pressing crumbs in place; place on tray. If you are not cooking them immediately, cover and refrigerate until ready to fry.
Heat a 12-inch skillet over high heat. Add olive oil for frying so that you have about ¼ in depth; heat to almost smoking. Add as many poultry slices as skillet will hold; do not crowd. Cook about 2 minutes or until bottom is golden. Using tongs turn slices; cook about 30 seconds longer. Remove poultry as each slice is done, allowing any excess oil to drain back into skillet; place on several thicknesses of paper towels. Repeat with the remaining poultry slices.
Place arugula in large bowl. (Note my note here) Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to coat leaves lightly. Add squeeze of lemon juice, additional sea salt and pepper, toss, taste and adjust the oil and lemon (acid), cheese balance.
Divide poultry evenly among dinner plates, placing in center of plate. Mound salad evenly on top of poultry, or slice into strips and place onto salad. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of each salad. Garnish plate with lemon quarter. Serve immediately.
Woody’s Wine Picks
Chardonnay can be a fantastic food wine with a bright, well-balanced character and a long, lingering finish but it can be over-powered by a lot of foods. Its acidity balances out the olive oil yet it won’t overpower the poultry. And it has enough body and fruit to work well with the lemon and arugula. Also be careful of too much oak.
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