Big Tasty Chicken Parmo

The iconic dish of Teesside.  You cannot get a proper one of these outside of Middlesbrough or Stockton (maybe Darlington at a push).  Anything I have had in Durham or Newcastle has been a poor imitation.  If you don’t know what a parmo is then you need this in your life.  Breaded chicken schnitzel/escalope topped with bechamel sauce and melted cheese.  Usually served with chips, salad (sliced red cabbage, onion, cucumber and lettuce) and garlic mayo.  Does come in variants such as the ‘Hotshot’ topped with pepperoni and jalapenos.  This dish is one of my all-time favourites from the take-away and this is a decent replication.

Gear

• Chopping board and sharp knife
• Rolling pin
• Cling film
• Frying pan
• Tongs
• Medium saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Whisk
• 2 Oven trays (tin foil covered)
• Oven preheated to 180^oC
• Bowls/plates for dredging chicken
• (Kitchen thermometer is useful but not essential)

Big Tasty Chicken Parmo

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 decent sized boneless chicken breasts (ideally free range)_
• Plain flour (for dredging/coating)
• 1 egg with a splash of semi skimmed milk (for dredging/coating)
• Natural breadcrumbs (shop bought is fine) – enough to cover your chicken breasts
• Vegetable oil fair bit for shallow frying
• 150g of Red Leicester cheese-grated
• 50g of Cheddar cheese -grated

For the Bechamel

(Might be some left over but I like quite a lot of bechamel on mine…)

• 60g Butter
• 60g Flour
• 1 pint semi skimmed milk
• Salt and pepper
• Bay leaf
• Optional – a little bit of grated parmesan for a bit of umami flavor

Method

1. Remove chicken from the fridge before starting as you don’t usually want to cook meat directly from chilled. Preheat your oven to 180^oC.
2. We will start with making the bechamel; melt the butter in the saucepan over a low/medium heat.
3. Once melted, gradually sift in the flour whilst continuously stirring with the wooden spoon.
4. You should end up with a thick paste (a roux), continue cooking and stirring for a couple of minutes until it just starts to brown a little bit.
5. Gradually start to add your milk a little at a time, with constant stirring. (Your arm will start to get tired here, sorry).
6. Once all of the milk is added, use a whisk to get rid of any lumps, season with some salt and pepper and add your bay leaf.
7. Continue heating gently for about 10 minutes, stirring as much as you can.  The sauce should thicken and if you lift up the spoon should form ‘ribbons’ on the surface.  At this stage you can add the grated parmesan (don’t add loads, despite its name there is little, if any, parmesan cheese in the takeaway version.)
8. Remove from the heat and place to the side, cover the pan with some cling film as this will prevent a skin from forming on the sauce.
9. Now for the meat, remove any manky bits and butterfly out your chicken on a chopping board. Cover it with cling film.
10. With your rolling pin, bash out the chicken pieces until they are of a relatively even thickness, then unwrap.
11. Dredge each chicken breast first into flour, then in the egg/milk mix and finally with breadcrumbs; make sure that each piece is evenly coated and then set to the side.
12. Add oil to a depth of about 1cm to your frying pan and heat, test you are ready for frying with a few breadcrumbs, you want them to start cooking almost straight away.
13. Place one of your chicken pieces into the frying pan and cook on each side for about 90 seconds to 2 mins, until just turning golden brown, then place on  one of your oven trays.  Repeat this for each chicken breast, topping up the oil as necessary.
14. Place the chicken escalopes into the oven for about 8 minutes.  If you have a kitchen thermometer check that the internal temperature reaches 75^oC. Or check that there is no pinkness by cutting into a small piece
15. Cover each of the chicken breasts with a generous amount of the bechamel sauce (remove the bay leaf), then top each with a mixture of the Red Leicester and Cheddar Cheese. (Just coloured Cheddar will also do).
16. Return the chicken to the oven for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted.
17. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and serve.