Jolene's Chicken Parmesan

I think Chicken Parm may be my all time favorite... I'm trying to nail down a recipe for red sauce. Today it came out kind of chunky + watery. I was looking for something a little smoother and more continuous. The flavor was aMAaAzing, but next time I'll try pureeing after cooking the sauce.

Chicken Parm takes: Red sauce, Spaghetti, Fried chicken, Parmesan cheese.

Red Sauce

Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 2 hours
Makes: 6 cups red sauce

Ingredients:

• 15 tomatoes
• 1 sweet onion, chopped finely
• 7 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1 hunk of pork (I used a pig foot)
• 1 glug EVOO
• 1/4 c red wine
• 1/4 c sugar
• 3 chopped green onions
• fresh basil
• 2 bay leaves
• salt, pepper

The Tomatoes 

1. Fill two large pots with water, bring one to a boil and add ice to the other. Set aside a large mixing bowl.
2. Once boiling, put each tomato in the boiling water for 30-45 sec (4-5 at a time). Remove the tomatoes from the hot water and place directly into the cold water.
3. While more tomatoes sit in the boiling water, transfer your cold water tomatoes to the mixing bowl. So on and so forth.
4. The tomato skins will either already be off or will peel right off.

The Saute Pan

1. Add one glug of oil to a pan on medium heat. Add the pig foot to the pan and cover for 5 minutes.  
2. Add onion and garlic, saute for 5 minutes.

The Sauce Pan

1. Put the tomatoes, saute pan contents and the rest of the ingredients into a large pan on medium heat. Really you'll just heap the wine, sugar, spices and pig's foot together with the peeled tomatoes and cover.
2.  Cover and let simmer on low for a half hour.
3. I take a wooden spoon and bust up the tomatoes after a half hour... it feels like it's speeding the process up.
4. Let it simmer and stir occasionally for the next hour or hour and a half. I think depending on the tomatoes you get, it will take varying amounts of time to cook the water off. Roma tomatoes have thick walls and less water, so they make sauce faster.
5. Once the sauce is cooked, let it stand while you make the chicken and pasta. Before serving, take half of the sauce and puree it. Combine it with the non-pureed sauce.

Fried Chicken 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c flour
• salt, pepper
• 2 t garlic powder
• 2 eggs
• 3 chicken breasts sliced in half.

1. Put a few of the half breasts into a large Ziploc bag and smash them up with a rolling pin. It's therapeutic for you and it startles your guests!
2. Begin heating some oil in a fry pan on medium heat.
3. Dip a breast into the egg, then into the flour.
4. Dip it again into the egg and again into the flour.
5. Repeat for all chicken breasts.
6. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. The oil should bubble up when the chicken hits the pan, so to tell if it's hot enough, drop a little flour goober into the oil. It should bubble and float.
7. Top each fried breast with parmesan or mozzarella cheese when it comes out of the oil, the cheese should melt on it.

Combine Spaghetti, Chicken and Sauce. Enjoy!

Joe's Review: "It smells like Olive Garden in here!" :)