Back up a few days and let’s set the scene. For Valentine’s Day, I bought Keith a cheese
making kit – basically a recipe book, some molds, a thermometer, some acids and
some enzymes. All you need to add is
milk. (I know, SUPER EXCITING!!!) We started with a recipe that
looked pretty simple and didn’t need to age, since I wanted cheese NOW, not
5-12 months from now. Courtney, Keith
and I spent about an hour heating, stirring, draining, kneading and stretching
what started as one gallon of milk – and ended up with almost a pound of fresh,
homemade mozzarella! It is delicious!
But there’s no mystery now as to why cheese is so fattening – all the fat and calories
in that gallon of milk was compressed into these delicious balls of
cheese. As I’ve said before, a little
goes a long way and you have to use restraint when you use cheese in your
svelte recipes. It’s tough, but your waistline will thank you. We used our first attempt at homemade
cheese for pizza night and it was amazingly rewarding – and tasty! (By the way,
my entire 8-inch Svelte Gourmet pizza only has 400 calories. That’s the same as ONE SLICE of
take-out. Recipe is in the cookbook!)
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| Curds (and whey) |
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| Mozzarella! |
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| Courtney stretching the cheese |
I didn’t really measure much for this recipe, so just wing it! Cooking is about flavor and instinct – sometimes
my instincts are good, like this time.
Sometimes my instincts are bad. I
don’t write about those recipes. Keith
deemed this one “blog worthy,” so that was all I needed to hear. Here you go!
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 egg whites
Garlic powder
Salt/Pepper
Panko breadcrumbs
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Olive oil
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced and seeded
Fresh basil leaves, torn
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On the stove, heat 1-2 tsp olive oil in an oven-safe skillet. Lightly beat egg whites in a shallow bowl
with a sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a second shallow bowl, mix panko with
about 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese and sprinkle with dried basil and oregano. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture,
then press each side into the panko mixture to coat. Add to hot skillet and let brown for about
two minutes. Gently flip each piece of
chicken, then top each with tomato slices, torn basil leaves and thin slices of
fresh mozzarella (1-2 oz). Salt and
pepper generously, insert meat thermometer into the thickest piece and put in
the hot oven for 20-25 minutes or until thermometer reads at least 165 degrees
(I always do 170 to be safe). Remove
from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.
(Tip: When you take the skillet
out of the oven, put your oven mitt over the handle. That way, you won’t accidentally grab the hot
handle when you’re ready to serve. Trust
me on this. It HURTS.)
Enjoy!
Lighten up! Try a month of
healthy main dishes and give us your feedback!
The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook is available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html.
