Parmesan Chicken

My flatmate Stefanie has never lived away from her parents before. She goes to uni nearby where she lives in Belgium, so there has never been any need to move out of her family home. This means before she moved in here– with three English girls who have lived away from home since they were all 18– she had never done laundry, cleaned or cooked before. ever. When she told me this when we first met almost two months ago, I had a sort of mini-silent-masked panic attack. For someone like me, who cooks anything and everything (except for eggs, if I can help it) I couldn't imagine how someone didn't even know how to boil pasta or make some plain old chicken.

Tonight, Stefanie is cooking me and my flatmate Holly dinner. A couple of weeks ago I cooked this recipe for her and she was inspired. It's a dish that is quite easy, but looks like it takes a lot of preparation (and that's what counts). And the best part is, those you cook it for will be fighting over the last bits.

Parmesan Chicken

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 cup/6 oz/ 170g butter

1 1/2 cup/6 oz/170 g dried breadcrumbs (if you can't find any in the shop and you're feeling brave, you could always make your own!)

1/2 cup/2 oz/55 g grated parmesan

2 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4-6 pieces boneless, skinless chicken (cut= your choice), cut into small pieces– roughly 5x5 cm

1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF/230ºC/Gas mark 8. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once it's all melted, add the minced garlic. In a large bowl mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan, cilantro/coriander, salt and pepper.

2. Dip the chicken pieces into the garlic butter, then into the crumb mixture to coat them. Place the coated chicken pieces onto a baking dish. Try to leave a little room between each piece. When you have coated all the pieces of chicken, drizzle the remaining garlic butter over the chicken.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices that come out of it are clear.

serves 4-6.

NOTE:

I won't be posting all that much over the next couple of weeks. On Friday I'm venturing to Barcelona to see some family and friends for a few days and after that I make a much needed trip to England. I will be back with photos of my travels, stories of my cooking, and most likely a picture of my 22nd birthday cake!