CHICKEN PARM

A few weeks ago, we held an impromptu dinner party at my apartment to celebrate our friend (and now former roommate) Nick's relocation to San Francisco. I'll admit that it was definitely thrown together last minute but while frantically rushing around to pull things together, I came up with the idea to blog about it.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has been in this situation: You either forgot about your guests coming over, or you simply just ran out of time to do everything you were planning, and now you're in a pinch. Have no fear! I'm here with a simple, delicious meal that can be thrown together last minute.

Chicken Parmesan has been my favorite dish since childhood. My mom's recipe is the best. You can argue that your mom's is better, but you're wrong. Sorry. So, here is a step by step guide with pictures to show how you can cook dinner, set the table, and serve your guests, all in under 2 hours. Good luck!

* For this recipe, I also did a vegetarian option and used eggplant instead of chicken. All other steps are the same.

What you will need:

Chicken Breasts

Flour

Eggs (beat them)

Italian Style Progressive Bread Crumbs

Oil

Basil Tomato Sauce

Shredded Cheese

Step 1: Dust the chicken breasts with flour

Step 2: Dip into egg until coated on both sides

Step 3: Dip into Progressive Bread Crumbs until covered

* Eggplant prepared the same way as the chicken

Step 4: Heat oil in a large frying pan until hot. You should only need enough oil to fill the pan about 1"

Step 5: Carefully place each piece of prepared chicken into the frying pan. You should fry each side for about 4 mins

Step 6: Once fried to a crisp brown on both sides, place into a glass baking dish or disposable tin dishes (as shown here)

Step 7: Cover the chicken with tomato sauce and sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Feel free to add extra cheese as it adds more flavor and melts deeper down into the dish.

Step 8: Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 mins.

*While you wait, prepare cheese and crackers and set the table to your liking. This is how I set mine when I was in a pinch!

*I used leftover apples from apple picking in the fall and filled the dish with cinnamon-scented pine cones!

Step 9: You're all done! Serve as is or over spaghetti or rice. Enjoy!

I'm pleased to say that my Chicken Parm was a success and everyone enjoyed it! Let me know how yours came out, I love hearing stories of adventures in the kitchen.

To those of you who are studying for finals, good luck! Just think of all the food you get to eat when you are done :)