If I’m going to make chicken & mashed potatoes, then this is my husband Mike’s favorite dish.  It’s another recipe from Guy Fieri (we LOVE GUY!) and I follow it pretty closely with just a few changes.  His recipe uses pork loin and you’ll never really find pork in our house other than bacon and even that’s pretty rare.  He also uses red wine and because we’re not fans of that either we never have it around.  Regardless, this recipe is certainly not missing anything for taste.  I serve it with garlic mashed potatoes and drizzle some of the gravy that’s used on the chicken on the mashed potatoes too.

The breaded chicken is a little involved, but the panko breadcrumbs make it extra crispy, which we love.  I like to make more chicken then we’re actually going to need for one night so that we can have leftovers.  After the chicken cools down I put them in ziplock bags and throw them in the fridge.  The next night if you heat them up in the toaster oven it’s like you just made them.  If we’re not using it with gravy and potatoes then I can use it for chicken parmesan or slice it up and put it on top of a salad for lunch the next day which is also delicious.  Basically, if I’m going to put in the effort for one night, I like to do a tad bit more so that we reap the benefits for at least one more night after. 🙂

Ingredients 

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 pound diced bacon
• 1 yellow onion, diced (1 cup)
• 2 cups sliced button mushrooms
• olive oil for frying
• 1 can beef broth (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup diced green onions (for garnish)

Directions

1. Set up your chicken breading station.  You will need three shallow, wide bowls.  I actually like to use pie pans for this step.  In bowl one mix together 3/4 cup flour, salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika.  In bowl two combine egg, milk, & mustard and use fork to mix ingredients.  In bowl three add panko.
2. Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so that you get six thin breasts.  Dredge each breast first in the flour, then egg wash, and finally panko bread crumbs.  Let them rest on a baking sheet while you get a head start on the dishes (cleaning up the breading station) and start the bacon. 🙂
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. In a medium saute pan cook the bacon until crispy.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels.  Using the same pan with the leftover bacon grease, sauté the onion for about three minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook an additional two minutes.  Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the beef broth and allow to thicken.  The gravy will turn from a thin dark brown sauce to a thicker sauce that’s lighter in color.  Turn down to medium-low heat.
5. Heat 1/4 inch of olive ion in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, five minutes on the first side and four minutes on the second.  As you pull them out of the pan place them in the heated oven to keep them warm until the others are done and to guarantee that they cook all the way through.
6. To serve, cover chicken with mushroom gravy, sprinkle with bacon pieces and green onions.

Notes – Serves 4-6

Recipe adapted from Guy Fieri