Hello! Welcome back to Dede’s Mediterranean Kitchen. Today, I’m going to be making Chicken Escalope or in other words, breaded chicken. This form of chicken is very popular in the Mediterranean. It’s served in all the Middle Eastern countries, in Greece, Italy, France, all over.

What you’re going to need is two boneless chicken breasts. I have them cut up into an eighth inch thickness. If you don’t like to use your knife too much and you’re a little bit afraid of cutting them, then you can always use a tenderizer and just pound out the chicken breast until it’s about an eighth inch thick and then cut it up maybe into three or into two pieces.

After the chicken, you’re going to want about a cup of flour. Spread a little flour. We’re going to use this for the dredging. I also have one cup of milk and one egg. I beat them together. This is going to also be used for breading the chicken.

Now, some people like to use bread crumbs; I don’t. I like to use cornflakes. What I do is I buy a bag of corn flakes. I put it in the blender until they are very fine, just like this. They become almost like a powder or like bread crumbs. What we’re going to do to these is season them. I like cornflakes because they give a different flavor and a little bit more crunchiness than regular bread crumbs.

You’re also going to need salt and black pepper to season. Another thing you’re going to need are some seasonings for the bread crumbs. We’re going to season the chicken before drenching it with some salt and black pepper. But then, we’re going to season the actual bread crumbs with a half teaspoon paprika. It’s not spicy, so you don’t have to worry too much. If you like more spiciness, you can add some cayenne pepper. I have about half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of dry parsley, half a teaspoon of garlic power, and half a teaspoon of black pepper.

At this point, you want to preheat your oven to about 350 degrees before you start the whole dredging period. You want to make sure that your oven is warm before you put the chicken in it. Whenever you're cooking anything in the oven, always make sure you preheat it about 10 to 15 minutes before you actually cook the product. You’re also going to need a nonstick flat pan. I like using nonstick because then, you don’t have to use any fats, whether it’s butter or oil or spray. I like it the traditional way.

Now, remove any rings that you have because this gets a little bit messy. You want to season the chicken with some salt and some black pepper, and make sure that you season all sides of the chicken. You don’t want to end up with one side that tastes different. Wash your hand real quick. Black pepper, some salt—don’t worry if you go every single inch of it because you’re going to season it with the bread crumbs.

What I’m going to do now is add the seasoning to the bread crumbs or the cornflakes so that it adds great flavor to the chicken when it’s done. Just pour them all in. You can add a little bit of salt, maybe about a fourth to a half teaspoon of salt, mix it together with the fork, make sure it’s all mixed evenly so that all the chicken have all the seasonings, just like that.

First step, grab the chicken and dredge it lightly in the flour, just like that. You want to make sure you have your pan nearby to put the chicken in it. Then, lightly drench in the milk and egg wash. Last step, drop it into the bread crumb mixture just like that. Your hands are going to get messy, so if you do, don’t worry about it. It happens to all of us. See how nice the color is? Just place it in the pan. I’ll do one more—chicken, flour—the flour and the egg wash have to grab on to the bread crumbs.

Now, if you are allergic to milk or to eggs, you can skip the flour and the milk and egg wash step. You can just go straight from the seasoned chicken to the seasoned bread crumbs. You’re not going to get as many bread crumbs on to the chicken but you are going to get enough so that it’s still crunchy and it adds great flavor.

So just like that, I’m going to finish breading all of the chicken. I’m going to put it in the oven and then I’m going to show you how it turns out.

I’ve cooked them in the oven for about 15 to 17 minutes. Now remember, this dish is a great alternative to fried chicken. I love fried chicken. Everybody loves fried chicken. Sometimes the amount of oil and just cooking in so much oil is such a big concern that this is a good alternative. It’s low-fat. You don’t use a lot of oil. If you like your chicken with a little bit more crispy flavor similar to fried chicken, you can actually cook these in a shallow pan with about two to three tablespoons of vegetable oil, cook them for about four minutes on each side. If you want to completely eliminate any fats, cook them in a non-stick pan.

This chicken can also be served many different ways. I’ve seen it served with a white sauce. I’ve seen it served with a mushroom sauce. I’ve seen it served with a tomato sauce with some melted cheese on top. You can also use it to make chicken savs or chicken sandwiches. It’s such a versatile thing and it’s chicken, so it goes great with just about everything.

I’m serving it here with some peperoncinis, some black olives and some mayonnaise. It’s a great dish, it’s a great alternative. It’s so simple to make. I mean, you saw how easy it was to make this. Try it, use it in different ways, enjoy it and check me out again at Dede’s Mediterranean Kitchen.