Please help with some recipe confusion!

Question

So I am making this: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-parmigiana-recipe/index.html

tomorrow night for a few friends that are coming. But the recipe is a little bit confusing to me so I need some help from you wonderful cooks.

1) The recipe calls for 4 b*****s, but I bought 6 since there will be 4 of us, 2 of which are hungry men. Do I really need to adjust the recipe or can I get by on making just 2 extra b*****s with the same recipe? It seems like it makes a lot of sauce anyway.

2) "Add the olives and some hand-torn basil, reserve the rest of the basil for finishing the chicken."

Do I literally rip off a few basil leaves and put them in whole in the sauce?

3)"Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly."

What's a fair amount of seasoning? He says this for the bread crumbs too, but I don't want to overseason anything and make it super salty. Say like a tablespoon of salt and pepper for the flour and the bread crumbs? Is that enough?

And Finally :)

4)"Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and arrange the mozzarella on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and remaining basil. "

Again, do I chop the basil or leave it whole?

I'm sure this is amateur and a stupid question for a lot of you, but I really want to impress my boyfriend and his friend, so I don't want to s***w anything up! Thankssssss!

Answer 1

As to increasing recipe I would if the men are big eaters you might want to increase the pasta as well. Leftovers are never a bad thing.

Tearing basil he means tear up the leaves into small pieces, cutting is thought to bruise the leaves but it is not wrong to do. Though I must tell you tearing basil perfumes the air.

Do not use more then a teaspoon of salt in either as you are using parm cheese and it is very salty as well.

The most important thing is to have fun cooking the meal that will make it taste better then anything else you do. You will do great :)

Answer 2

1) Make sure your pan is big enough to hold the 6 b*****s.

2) He means to rip the leaves in pieces to get the flavour.

3) It means to your taste or judgement, don't overdo.

4) Here the basil is mainly decorative, your choice.

Answer 3

You can make the two extra b*****s, just average the materials accordingly. You're trying to accomodate your guests. Nothing wrong with that. If you watch the food network, usually they just rip the basil leaves off and put them in whole. It's going to shrivel in the pot anyway. It's what Rachel Ray does :) So in step 2, I'd definitely just rip it off and throw it in. BUT the last part says "sprinkle with remaining basil" so it sounds like they would like you to chop the basil a bit.  

Answer 4

1)  You should be fine not adjusting the recipe much.  May want to add a little more flour and bread crumbs for the breading.

2)  Take the basil leaves and tear them up, right before using.  Each leaf into 3 or 4 pieces.  Looks more rustic and metal knives can react with basil.  It's a very volatile herb.

3)  A three finger pinch of salt, and a few twists of the pepper mill.  Don't forget the parmesan has a lot of salt in it.  Less is more, and you can always put salt on the table.

4)  Tear up the leaves by hand, or slice into strips if you prefer.  

I might recommend pounding our the b*****s a bit so they cook faster and you don't over brown the breading.

Hope that was helpful.

Answer 5

The first rule of any recipe that doesn't involve baking is that recipes are just a guideline

Let's see what's causing you so much needless  angst

The recipe

Chicken Parmigiana Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence  

Show:  Tyler's Ultimate  

Episode:  Ultimate Chicken Parmigiana  











Chicken Parmigiana

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons <==You don't need EVO, Pure or Virgin will work just as well  and you may need more

<<<

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves

2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed

<<== Get the imported Progresso w/ the basil

Pinch sugar

Pinch red pepper flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 skinless, boneless, chicken b*****s (about 1 1/2 pounds) <<===Use 2+lbs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour  <<===or more

I mean it's not an exact number .You need enough to be able to coat all your chicken b*****s

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

1 cup dried plain bread crumbs <<===

Better idea : buy seasoned  bread crumbs

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling  <<===or Romano or Assagio

1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 (8-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

<<<==If you can finds it Polly-O mozzarella  either part skim or whole milk will work just as well >and it's a lot easier to work with

1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente <<==

Pasta is cheap .make 2 lbs ,Personally i would use linguini,Do not use angel hair

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. <<== that was the first thing that you should have done when you walked into your kitchen,followed by turning on your pasta water

<<

Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves; cook and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant and soft.

<<== Uh No Tyler,Wrong pot ,wrong method

Do this using a thick bottomed stainless steel

sauce pan/ stock pot of around a 4-6 qt capacity

Do the onions first,

When they start getting translucent , add the bay leaves and the garlic

When things start smell really garlicy add the tomatoes>which will cool down your pan immediatley thereby preventing the garlic from burning

Add the olives and some hand-torn basil, <<===

Nonsense if you use a really sharp knife there is no need to hand tear it

>>

reserve the rest of the basil for finishing the chicken. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes; season with sugar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover, and keep warm.

<<<

It is critically important that you count the amount of bay leaves that you put in and that you remove the same amount prior to service b/c whole bay leaves are a choking hazard

Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line. Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, add the 1 cup parmesan, chopped parsley, and garlic powder Season with salt and pepper and stir with a fork until thoroughly combined.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

<<

Uh No Tyler<<=== Cook your chicken until, it's nice and golden brown as described >use the color of cornflakes as your guidleline

Using something like a rectangular pyrex serving/baking  dish add enough sauce to just cover the bottom  ,then your chicken then as described  below except don't garnish it with the basil until it comes out of the oven>>>

Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and arrange the mozzarella on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and remaining basil. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti.

>>

One thing >

The basil cut that you want to use is called a chiffonade cut

To do one , stack your basil leaves one on top of another

Roll into a cylinder

Cut  1/8" to1/4 " wide strips across the long axis of the cylinder