"Hey Mom, it looks just like the picture!"

Now, for my next trick….Best Ever French Beans (pg.222) and Crunchy Garlic Chicken (pg.241). First of all, not to give the ending away, but this dinner was a huge hit with everyone! There are a few things I'd adjust in the recipe next time but I would definitely make this again and I think my family will even request it. First, the crumb recipe for the chicken was awesome and so easy to make. Jamie even suggests using it to also cook pork or cod. The mixture is garlic, lemon zest (very happy to use gadget #47--lemon zester-- for the first time), butter, parsley, crackers, salt and pepper. Proportions seemed a tad off. Jamie only calls for 6 crackers (the recipe serves 2), I doubled it using 12 crackers and still needed to add a handful more. I'd also be interested in finding the crackers he suggests, Jacob's. We had Ritz crackers on hand and I think it would be fun to try other kinds. He also calls for 4 sprigs of parsley and my sprigs must have been extra big because it was A LOT of parsley. We actually had green chicken and I kept thinking this would be a great recipe for St. Patrick's Day! Everyone helped pile things in the food processor and watch it whiz around. The recipe calls for bashing the chicken a few times with the bottom of a pan to flatten it, I used a rolling pin so I didn't scare the kids. Everyone helped to set up our little assembly line and I floured, egg dipped and "crusted" the chicken, then threw it in the oven. Jamie says you can bake or fry and we picked baking.

The chicken reminded me of a recipe my mom taught me once. She came to visit me at my apartment in the city about a year after college. The state of my pantry and refrigerator must have horrified her because I remember coming home to a stocked kitchen. She had bought lots of good things, yummy fresh cherries come to mind, and all of the ingredients to make a bachelorette version of crusted chicken. I think we named it "Mom's Funky Chicken." I made it lots of times!

While the chicken is cooking, I worked on the green beans. Now, Jamie says these are the "Best Ever." That seems like a tall order but then I realize that they are oozing in melted parmesan cheese, how could anything not be "the best ever" prepared like this? I boil the beans and pat myself on the back because the pot does not boil over…yay me! After they've cooked, they go in the colander, I throw some olive oil in the pan and cook up some garlic, throw the beans back in and coat with the oil and then add back some water, the cheese and lemon juice. YUM! My daughter is amazed that they look just like the picture (unlike the green chicken). Husband and daughter throw together a salad and we sit down to a nice Sunday dinner complete with lots of "This is really good!" and "Hey, its like a real dinner with no short cuts! and a "good" from the toddler. Amazing!

Now…the one downside to this yummy meal says husband….clean up. Oozy Parmesan Cheese does not clean up very easily!

I think my mom would be proud of my grown up version of "Funky Chicken!"

Recipes cooked: 5
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Days left: 356