Chicken Scampi
- 12 cup peanut oil or 12 cup vegetable oil
- 1 lb linguine
- 4 -5 chicken breasts
- 2 -3 eggs
- 1 cup progresso Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 large dashes kosher salt
- 14 teaspoon pepper
- 12 cup white wine
- 12 cup pasta water (or more, depending on how saucy you like)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 cup butter
- 12 chicken bouillon cube (optional)
- 4 -5 garlic cloves
- 4 -5 teaspoons lemon juice
- parmesan cheese
- Get your ingredients ready to go!
- Put the butter somewhere to soften, like a sunny window.
- Prep your cheese by shredding it or grating it.
- If you use a container cheese like Kraft, get that out.
- Place 1/2 a cup of white wine in a 1 cup (like the measuring cup from Pyrex.
- ).
- Get a ramekin/small bowl and mince 4-5 cloves of garlic into it.
- Add a teaspoon of lemon juice for every clove added.
- Set this off to the side with the white wine.
- Now prep your breading station.
- Get two bowls out.
- Beat 2-3 eggs vigorously in one bowl.
- In the other, combine your bread crumbs with the salt and pepper.
- Fill your pasta pot full of water, put it on a back burner, and turn the heat on and don't salt the water until you're ready to throw the pasta in the pot.
- Get your largest frying pan and add the oil.
- Don't turn on the heat yet.
- Now that everything is ready, you can prep the chicken while minimizing the risk of cross contamination.
- I am fed up with cutting chicken with a knife for this recipe.
- I just use some good kitchen-quality scissors.
- Cut away any discolored, fatty or bloody pieces.
- Then cut the chicken in 1/2 inch strips.
- Uniformity is important, so try to make the pieces the same size for even cooking.
- Breading: Put a handful of the raw chicken strips/pieces into the egg.
- Take a couple of pieces out and roll them in your bread crumb mixture.
- Set them on some wax paper or better still, one of those thin and flexible cutting sheets.
- Do this until all the chicken is evenly breaded and ready for frying.
- Turn on the oil to 7 (on a scale from 1-9.)
- I find that Hi-Medium is the perfect temperature for this.
- Salt the almost boiling pasta water with about 2-3 tablespoons kosher salt.
- Right after, put your colander/strainer in the sink so it's there when you need it.
- The hardest parts are done!
- But before you put one piece of chicken in that oil, make sure you have a place to put it once it is done.
- I learned from Alton Brown to avoid setting fried chicken on a paper towel to blot away the excess oil.
- Instead, line the counter with a few paper towels and place a cooling rack on top of the towels to allow the fat to drip off.
- Your chicken will be much less greasy as a result.
- Check the oil to see if it sizzles by throwing a drop of water on it.
- When it's sizzling, add a single layer of the breaded chicken pieces.
- They should sizzle on contact.
- The original recipe says to cook the meat for 30 seconds on both sides, but my experience has been roughly 3 minutes per side.
- Just use your best judgment and avoid undercooking any of the chicken.
- All it takes is one piece of undercooked chicken to ruin the whole night.
- Use some tongs to help yourself turn the chicken.
- Place the cooked pieces on the cooling rack.
- Put your pasta in the water once it's boiling and set your timer.
- Once all of the chicken is one the cooling rack, reduce the heat from 7 to 3 or 4.
- Take a bunch of paper towels and sweep/wipe the pan clean quickly with some paper towels over the garbage can.
- The pan is still super hot, so be careful.
- Put the pan right back on the burner.
- Add a ladle or two of the starchy pasta water to the cup you set aside with white wine in it.
- The pan might be smoking a bit, but it will stop when you add the wine and water and the liquid will turn a brown color.
- This is deglazing the pan and it adds a lot of flavor.
- If you are the type that thinks everything is flavorless and dull, throw half a bouillon cube into the pan and allow it to dissolve.
- Add the stick of butter to the frying pan.
- After it's all dissolved and clear, add the lemon and garlic to the wine and butter sauce.
- Once the pasta is the tenderness you prefer, turn off the burner, strain the pasta quickly in the colander and return it to the pot with 2 tablespoons of butter.
- You can turn up the heat a bit to aid melting.
- I like to add a bunch of Parmesan here, like a cup of it.
- This is a matter of your taste.
- If you typically don't like a lot of cheese on your pasta, wait until dinner is on the table and use it as needed.
- Add the chicken back to the frying pan with the sauce.
- Mix well, and be careful not to over cook the chicken.
- Add the chicken to the pot with the butter and noodles and mix gently.
- Dinner is done.
peanut oil, linguine, chicken breasts, eggs, progresso italian, dashes kosher salt, pepper, white wine, pasta water, butter, butter, chicken, garlic, lemon juice, parmesan cheese
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/chicken-scampi-470269 (may not work)