Chicken Milanese with Tomato and Fennel Sauce

Man, Giada's recipes have long titles. If my family invented Chicken Milanese with Tomato and Fennel Sauce (pg 113), we'd probably call it "Breadcrumbed Chicken with Glop." Exotic, no?

This is a pretty standard recipe for breadcrumbed chicken: dredge in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. She adds dried basil, dried thyme, and a load of Parmesan cheese to the breadcrumbs. Upon ripping apart my fridge, I discovered I was out of Parmesan. Bummer. I added a touch of salt to the breadcrumbs and moved on, pan-frying the cutlets in vegetable oil.

Crunchy goodness

The sauce is what makes this dish different from the breadcrumbed chicken I grew up with. Once the chicken is done and removed, add a touch of olive oil to the pan drippings, then cook sliced fennel until soft. Add halved cherry tomatoes, garlic, and fresh thyme. Remove it from heat and add some mascarpone cheese.

I had no idea what the sauce would taste like. It was creamy, with a nice, light sweetness. I always expect fennel to taste as full-on licorice cooked as it does raw, and I'm always surprised when it doesn't. You'd think I'd learn by now.

Conclusion: A good, strong Liked It. It was good as it was, and adding all that Parmesan that I was missing would, of course, only make it better, because Parmesan kicks ass.