OyChicago blog

One Friday a few weeks ago, hubs called me with a long, breathy sigh … it had been a bad day. A very bad, horrible, day. And on those days I know my hubby needs comfort food. 

For him that is anything crispy and savory. So off to the fridge I went to grab some freshly butchered chicken cutlets and some lemons. And as my little toddler whipped circles around me chasing the tortured cat, I went on a scavenger hunt in my pantry trying to find the perfect crust for my cutlets. But my pantry had failed me. I had no breadcrumbs. And it hurts me to say it, but I only had a few tablespoons of flour. It was a sad, sad day in this girl’s house. And then I saw a container that looked somewhat promising to me. It was from the last time I made matzo balls.

Classic Manischewitz matzo meal! And right there on the box was golden fried beautiful chicken cutlets! How have I been so clueless all this time! OF COURSE this would work! To hell with breadcrumbs! I’m using matzo meal! So I chopped up some parsley, scraped off some lemon zest and went to work. About 25 minutes and several beautifully crisp chicken cutlets later, I was pleased.

Hubs walked in right when I had placed my finishing touches on the platter of beauties. And I plated him one with a simple side dish of our favorite Avocado and Feta salad.

He sat and chewed the crunchy chicken and let out a sigh of relief. The munchkin sat right next to him in her high chair happily gobbling up every last crumb. Licking her fingers and making a satisfying “mmmmmmm” sound with each bite. I swear no one enjoys food more than this munchkin. Look at those food smears on the side of her mouth! Such a ham! She is smiling that big because she just ate an entire chicken cutlet.

For the first time in the past hour, hubs let out a loud laugh as the little munchkin burped unexpectedly and then pointed to the cat in blame. This one will be trouble.

His so called very bad day … not so bad anymore. With a few pieces of his favorite chicken and some much needed comic relief from the munchkin, hubs was once again my happy love bunny. And my Friday was complete.

Crispy Matzo Lemon Chicken
from girlandthekitchen.com

Ingredients

2 cups matzo meal 
2 pounds chicken cutlets 
4 egg whites 
zest of one lemon 
3 tbsp of chopped parsley plus more for garnish 
1 lemon sliced thinly 
2 tbsp garlic powder 
1 tbsp paprika 
salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions

1. Measure out about 2 cups of matzo meal. Add in salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and lemon zest.

2. Then whip up 4 egg whites and add the Italian parsley.

3. Set up an assembly line. Egg white plate, matzo meal plate and an empty plate.

4. Dip the chicken cutlets into the egg white mixture first. Making sure to cover both sides. Do this with your LEFT hand.

5. Then with your RIGHT hand dip into the matzo meal mixture. You want to do this with different hands or else you will have what I call mummy hands.

6. Place about 2 tbsp of butter in a large pan over medium high heat and let it come to a sizzle. 

7. Cook it on one side for 3-4 minutes until nice and golden brown. Then flip it and cook it for another 3 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

8. Lay them on paper towels so they drain any access butter that may be on them. Also, feel free to change the oil/butter out with each batch if you have too many burnt bits in the pan.

9. Garnish with a few lemon slices and some parsley. Dive in! 

Notes

If you are using this for the Jewish holidays, you can use coconut oil or olive oil to make it truly Kosher.