Foodie Confessions, Revealed #ChangeIsGood #SheetPanDinner

I have a confession to make, I have been craving a chicken dish I found in the Los Angeles Times before I moved to Idaho. Thursday June 3, 1982 to be exact. Chicken a la Chardon. And, my leanings towards poultry have lessened in the past few years, but Sunday night I had to look for that recipe.

It was not online, well not in a good version and with someone else claiming credit. So, I went to my garage, to my recipe file box that I have had since I moved out of my parent’s home, circa 1975. I not only found the recipe but what I found was the original cut out from the Los Angeles Times Food section.

I only hoard recipes. Really!

I made this tonight. And, I ate two chicken thighs, eegads. The original recipe called for chicken breasts, but I love thighs. The recipe also called for seasoned bread crumbs and for parmesan, but nah, I had to change it up. Plus, everything else had to be fresh!

Ingredients

1 package of boneless, skinless organic chicken thighs from Costso, 4 thighs
1 large egg white
¼ cup of panko crumbs
¼ cup of fine grated pecorino cheese, go to Trader Joe’s
NOTE: for six chicken pieces, measure 1/3 cup panko and pecorino
1 teaspoon Starlight Herb Co Zesty Italian herb seasoning, it’s worth it! ½ teaspoon for crumb mixture and ½ teaspoon for butter mixture
2 teaspoons organic garlic powder
1 stick organic butter
Juice of ½ large lemon or ¼ cup
Zest from the lemon or 1 scant tablespoon
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large shallot, peeled and sliced

Directions

Wash and trim the chicken thighs, set aside. Preheat oven to 375°

In a small food processor, combine the panko crumbs, the pecorino cheese, the garlic powder and the ½ teaspoon of Zesty Italian seasoning. Pulse until the mixture is fine and blended to use for a coating. Set aside in a glass pie dish or a shallow dish to dip the chicken in. Have the egg white in a small bowl, ready to use.

In separate bowls, zest the whole lemon and juice half. Use the other half for garnish or freeze for another use. FYI, I have a jelly jar in my freezer of lemon zest and juice for last minute recipes. Melt the butter stick in a separate bowl, let cool before you blend it with the lemon juice and zest. Add the rest ½ teaspoon, of the Zesty Italian seasoning and mix well. Set aside.

I bought a 1 pound package of slice mushrooms, so I filled 3 measuring cups of mushrooms and put in a bowl until I needed them.

Now you should have the cleaned chicken thighs, the egg white, and the crumb mixture ready to roll, with the mushrooms and shallot in a separate bowl. See picture, glass of red wine optional for the chef. Get a baking dish and spray with non-stick organic canola spray. I realized tonight that my baking dishes were left behind way back when, so I used a deep baking sheet. Hey, that makes this a sheet pan dinner, right?

Dip each chicken piece in egg white and roll and over each piece in the crumb mixture well. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer on sheet pan. Grab that melted butter mixture and drizzle 2 tablespoons over each chicken piece.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes. Remove from oven, add the sliced mushrooms and shallots, pour remaining butter sauce over. Don’t worry about too much sauce for goodness sakes! Soak it up with a rustic loaf of bread slices!

Bake for another 10 minutes longer, pull right away. Garnish with fresh lemon slices from the remaining lemon half and chopped parsley. I didn’t have any parsley and I really didn’t care because I was SO hungry!

Bon Appétit!

#chickenthighs #easydinner #sheetpandinner