Lemon Breaded Chicken with Caramelized String Beans

I haven't cooked anything in about a week! It's been driving me stir crazy. But this is a really simple recipe that's super inexpensive at the same time. And your family will just eat it up lickety-split!

Ingredients:

• 5 chicken breasts
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, pressed and minced
• squeeze of two full lemons
• dash of salt
• dash of pepper
• dash of rosemary
• 3 to 4 eggs
• splash of milk
• bread crumbs
• fresh oats
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

I started off cooking my beans because they really take the longest. Snap off the ends, throw them in a pot, and cook away! I'm just gonna link you to the recipe since I already did it with asparagus last week or so. >>> Here. I got that recipe from my mom, she used to always make string beans like this almost every meal. I just saw her this past Sunday for her birthday party and I've really missed her since I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving.

Next you're gonna prepare the chicken, tenderize the hell out of it and cut it to your liking. I did about 1 inch strips, kind of like chicken tender size. If you want to make them bigger by all means! You're going to be frying these in oil on the stove, and 5 chicken breasts cut up super small can take 3 to 4 big batches. And that's a lot of handiwork.

Put the chicken in a large bowl and squeeze in your lemon, pepper, salt, rosemary, and garlic. Remember, a little rosemary goes a long way! Squish it all around with your hands to make sure everything is spread evenly.

Mix up your eggs and dash of milk in a bowl big enough for you to dip the chicken in. On a plate next to that, pour your bread crumbs and a large handful of oats. So from your left to right, you should have the bowl of chicken, the egg mixture, the crumbs and oats, and then a separate clean plate to place your breaded chicken! Like a little assembly line.

Once you've got that all set, get a large skillet on medium heat and pour in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Let it heat up for a second and start throwing on your chicken. The chicken should only need 2 minutes on each side... Depending on how thick you cut it. You can tell when one side is ready because the chicken will start to puff up and turn white around the edges. Flip it over and it should be nice and golden brown on one side. Use tongs, it makes it easiest. Test a little piece of each batch you do, you don't want to overcook the chicken... But you don't want to undercook it either. It should be super moist and delicious, not dried out and sandy.

Each batch you do you'll want to scrape off the extra bread crumbs that fell off from the previous batch into the garbage, and use a fresh drizzle of oil! Otherwise you're gonna start burning your chicken and that's no fun is it? So I hope you guys like it! This makes a ton of chicken, there were four of us and we had a lot of leftovers. But we didn't have a starch besides the bread crumbs, so we made up for it in extra chicken. And we didn't have a lot of beans! They cook down pretty good, so make sure you get a hefty bag of them. Oh, and don't forget to squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the top when you're done!

I'm off to stretch and work out... Ugh, I love doing it... But just getting the motivation really sucks doesn't it? Haha,

Later Food Lovers!
Justin Francis Kane
.

Caramelized Asparagus

This is a quick little side that only takes 20 minutes! Hello to all my new followers p.s.!!! I’m literally blown away with how many new foodies I get to entertain! Before you know it, I’ll be on the cooking channel with my own show hahaha… First things first though, I need me a nice video camera to start puttin’ myself out on the youtube! Who wants to pay for it? ;D

Ingredients:

• a bushel of asparagus spears, fresh
• a cup or two of water
• half a small onion
• a clove of garlic
• a little butter
• dash of salt
• dash of pepper
• dash of balsamic vinegar
• squeeze of a tangerine

First I caramelize the onions and garlic, cut the hard ends off the asparagus, and throw em in the skillet! I add the balsamic vinegar, or you could use white vinegar, or any other kind you prefer! Even a nice salad dressing would go great as long as it’s oil and water based, not ranch or anything ;D I also cut the tangerine in half, squeeze em and put them cut side open on the skillet.

I cook them covered for about 15 minutes [when you see the juices evaporate, it’s time to add the water!], till they get pretty soft but not completely. And for the last five minutes I take the cover off, turn the heat on high, and char the edges for that super delicious burnt flavor.

Quick, easy, and you can do it with almost any harder vegetable; peppers, zucchini, green beans, ect.

Later food lovers!
Justin Francis Kane
.