So, I went into the kitchen and took my knives to some skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts. With the oven preheating at 325°F, and the outside approaching 100°F, I took off my shirt. And put on a cooking apron, the one I got from Petra winery in Tuscany. I love that grease-stained smock. It’s army green and has seen a lot of skirmishes in this kitchen. The cats started to come around, for they have long sensed that when someone is in the kitchen hustling about, there might be treats in it for them. They are well fed. They could be Roman street cats.
The chicken – for as long as I have been an adult, I have made this dish. I learned variations from my mom, my paternal grandmother and my mom’s sister, my aunt, who was like my Texas mom. Over the years I have struggled with this dish and made modifications to this dish. But it was during the Covid-19 pandemic that I “perfected” this dish for my purposes.
I’ve gone down the chicken breast route with this recipe, for the sake of ease and convenience. You could easily use thighs. One of my favorite chicken dishes from Ethiopia, Doro Wat, uses thighs. That’s a recipe for another time, though.
The key to this chicken is the coating and the crust. Also, the desire for the breast inside to be moist and not dried out. The coating is a combination of corn meal (not fine, but with some of the gritty texture that corn meal can have with the right grind). Cornmeal makes the chicken “stand up” in the pan while cooking and on the plate while eating. Along with the corn meal, the coating has panko break crumbs and grated cheese, Pecorino or Parmigiano (or both if you’d like). As well, spices. I will include my recipe at the end.
Dino Illuminati, me and winemaker Daniele Spinelli,- 38 years ago
What I was really looking to do was find something to
go with a bottle of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. One of my current favorites is from
Ciavolich. I’ve long been a fan of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, as some of my past blog
posts note. Abruzzo wines are back in the disco-queue with today’s younger wine
drinkers, it’s popular again! I’m so happy!
What makes this wine go well with this dish is the dance they do together. The fat of the chicken, the cheese coating, the texture of the corn meal, and the bracing acidity of the Trebbiano. When I first took a sip, it was like body surfing in Southern California and catching “that” wave. Huh? Yeah, just like that, a nice, cool, refreshing ride, but not without a little danger, drama even, but no undertow.
I recently took a log of how much liquids I drink in a day, over a three-month period. Aside from not drinking enough water, the amount of wine I now consume is far less than when I was working in the wine trade and actively involved. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like to drink wine. In fact, having gone to Abruzzo over the past 40 years, easily a couple of dozen times, I’ve gotten to know a lot of winemakers. And collected wines from Abruzzo going back over 50 years! I’m currently planning on a giant tasting of all those wines here in Big D, when the weather calms down a bit. It’s going to be epic, and of course the event will be posted here when it happens.
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| circa 1987 - an Abruzzo end cap at a gourmet grocery story |
All to say, I’m a long-time Ambasciata d'Abruzzo. In fact, I recently went over my sales records for Abruzzo wines – records which marked how much wine I sold as well as how much wine was sold when I was responsible for the category as a brand manager or sales director, specifically in the Italian wine vein. In the 40 or so years I was actively involved over 2,500,000 bottles of wine from Abruzzo passed through our portals to the end user, and that’s a conservative reading. SO, yeah, I was committed.
Nowadays, Abruzzo has taken on a new life and has tremendous momentum. But 20-30-40 years ago, it was an uphill battle. I’m glad to see the battle is being won in today’s arena, though. Producers like Ciavolich represent a fresh and vibrant frontispiece to the world. And they’re not alone. Just peruse the socials and see how many Abruzzo producers are all over the map, telling their stories to Americans, Swedes, the Chinese, Vietnamese, Australia, you name it. Their grandparents and great-grandparents would blush with pride for how they’ve taken the baton and ran with it. Abruzzo wine is here to stay – tariffs or not!
So, where do we go from here? Well, I’m off to the pool for a swim. And then there might be time to save the world. In the meantime, my latest culinary pleasure has been laid out for all to know. Now for the recipe.
Buon appetito!
The recipe:
“Southern style” Italian baked chicken.
I take boneless chicken breasts (although thighs work ok too) and cut them into pieces, 2-3 per breast.
In a bowl a put the breasts and a mixture of egg and half and half, which have been blended. Not too much, just enough to make sure the meat is covered .
In another dish a take a mixture of coating:
• 20-25% corn meal (or polenta) not the fine stuff. Corn meal with a little grit.
• ↑40% panko bread crumbs.
• ↑40% grated pecorino or parmesan (or both).
• Spices – I use powdered garlic, Greek seasoning, Old Bay seasoning and a little bit of paprika.
Dredge the chicken from the egg/half & half mixture with one hand, and pop into the coating. With the other hand, make sure the chicken is covered all over and set on a plate. Complete all the pieces and set on the plate.
Set the oven to 325°F
In a large skillet warm it up with a mixture of olive oil and avocado oil, not too much, but enough to get the breaded breasts something to brown in. do both sides, making sure not to burn, but get a good crust on them.
When all are done, put them in a roasting dish, covered, or cover with aluminum foil and put in oven for 20 minutes.
That’s it. Take their temp and make sure they are at or above 145°F
(Ed.note: you could also do this with catfish fillets, if you aren’t squeamish about mixing seafood with dairy. It’s quite excellent as well, and seeing as my heritage is Southern Italy, where there is a counter-tradition of dishes with seafood and dairy, it is quite comme il faut.)
Amazing Abruzzo
