Parmesan Chicken

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This method of cooking chicken has a lot in common with deep frying. The chicken is coated with something edible to keep the moisture in and add flavor, while the cooking temperature is relatively high.

In this case the flavoring comes from a combination of Parmesan cheese and Dijon mustard, mingled with the soft scent of thyme. Cook it with care for those you love.

Put together:

4 chicken breasts, lightly flattened to a uniform thickness
40g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
150g breadcrumbs
2tbs thyme
100g clarified butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 heaped teaspoon of Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C, 375°F

In a shallow dish, mix together the cheese, breadcrumbs, thyme and salt. This is your coating.

Melt the butter in a small, shallow pan and stir in the garlic and mustard. Take it off the heat straight away, you don’t want to cook this.

As soon as the butter is cool enough not to burn your pastry brush, coat each of the chicken breasts thoroughly and then dip them in the Parmesan/breadcrumb mixture. Or simply roll the breasts in the butter and then the crumb mix.

Pat the breadcrumbs into a good, thick coating and let the breasts stand on a rack for about 10minutes. This will give the butter time to solidify a little and hold the crumbs in place.

To cook, put the breasts in a baking dish, pour any remaining butter over them and bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes, or until the pieces are golden brown.

It’s a good idea to baste this dish once or twice during cooking if you can, but not during the last 15-20 minutes.

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