Crispy & Crunchy!

Good evening everyone! There's a popular recipe known as 40 garlic chicken (or chicken with 40 garlic cloves) that I'd wager you can find in nearly every mainstream cookbook available. First - yes, there are actually 40 garlic cloves in the recipe and second - no, we're not trying that dish tonight (although it is on my list of "must tries"). Rather, tonight we're borrowing the idea behind 40 garlic chicken (I.E. that chicken and garlic get along wonderfully) and adapting it to another favorite - "you can't go wrong with breading" to create tonight's recipe.

The Recipe: Crispy Garlic Chicken Cutlets
Original Recipe Found In: America's Test Kitchen: Cooks Country

What You'll Need:

6 Chicken Cutlets (Trimmed of excess fat)
1 Cup Plus 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
4 Garlic Cloves (Minced), 6 Garlic Cloves (Smashed)
3 Slices Sandwich Bread (Processed into breadcrumbs)
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Large Egg Whites
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons Cornstarch

Begin by preheating your oven to 200 degrees.

Use a food processor to pulse your bread into coarse crumbs. Pour the breadcrumbs onto a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

In a ziplock baggy, combine 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, the four minced garlic cloves and your chicken cutlets. Seal the bag and store it in your refrigerator for 30 minutes (it's good to start here, that way they'll be ready to go once the other steps have been completed).

Place the rimmed baking sheet into the 200 degree oven and allow the breadcrumbs to cook until golden brown and crispy. This takes about 20 minutes.

Next, add the flour to a shallow dish or plate. Whisk the egg whites until they become lightly foamy, then add them onto a second shallow dish. Finally, in a third shallow dish, combine the breadcrumbs you prepared in the first step with the garlic powder and cornstarch. Line these dishes up (assembly line style) flour - egg whites - breadcrumbs.

Remove your cutlets from their baggy and season with salt and pepper (remove any large clumps of garlic hanging on the cutlets - we want the flavor, but not THAT much flavor). Next, carefully dredge a cutlet through the flour, allowing excess flour to fall off (a light shake works well here) before dipping the cutlet into the egg whites. Allow any excess to drip off before rolling the cutlet in the bread crumb mixture. Once the cutlet is evenly coated in a thick layer of breadcrumbs, set it on a wire drying rack and repeat until all cutlets are coated.

Next, heat the remaining vegetable oil and the 6 smashed garlic cloves in a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Cook the garlic until it turns a light brown color. Discard the garlic and add the cutlets to the skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until the breading is crispy and the chicken is cooked through. (You may need to cook the cutlets in two batches, if so, store the cooked cutlets in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve).

Once all of your cutlets are crispy and golden, all that's left is to serve and enjoy!

The Results:

Despite there being over 10 cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of garlic powder - the garlic is rather subtle in this recipe. The breading is delightfully crispy and crunchy and compliments the chicken beautifully. This recipe could be improved with a pan side or even a dipping sauce - perhaps a light mustard or even a garlic infused oil. On it's own, this recipe is perfectly delectable - but with a few more tweaks, I think it could be something spectacular. We'll have to revisit this one in the future and try out these tweaks ourselves.

That's all we have for you this evening. Maggie takes to the kitchen tomorrow night to debut a brand new recipe. Until then,

~Cheers