Everyday, From Day 1: Issue 3

Posted by Alison Sickelka

Chicken parmigiana. One thing I'll say for this recipe is that it keeps well in the oven.

Oh, and it was quite tasty. But I fully understand now how frustrating it is to cook something to be ready at a certain time and have loved ones show up late from work. Sheesh.

My sister and I are starting to be like an old married couple.

The game plan was to start cooking supper at 6:30 p.m. and everyone would assemble shortly thereafter. So I went grocery shopping right after work and thought I was running late (I left the store around 7 p.m.) only to discover via texting that my sister thought she would get home around 9 p.m.

Let's just say that was apparently an ambitious goal for her.

She ended up eating her supper around 11 p.m. Our friend Michael and I caved and ate without her at about 10. It took some real willpower (and cheese and crackers) to wait that long. By the time we ate, the meal tasted extra good from the wait.

As far as the cooking goes, it was relatively easy. The hardest part (and it wasn't so much hard as time consuming) was the homemade tomato sauce; next time, I think I might take the tip to use store-bought tomato sauce to speed up the process.

The easy chunky tomato sauce is both easy and chunky, and that caused it to get mixed reviews. My sister loved it, but Michael said he prefers less chunk in his tomato sauce.

I was a huge fan because of the large quantity of onions in it. Their presence allowed me to try the how-to in the magazine: chopping onions.

I love onions (I add them to everything I possibly can -- and things I probably shouldn't). The how-to was helpful in prepping them, and they were definitely why I liked the tomato sauce.

Also, the sauce recipe says it makes 6 cups (I didn't measure), and the chicken parmigiana recipe calls for only 2 cups, but I got distracted during the cooking with fielding texts about when people were going to show up to eat and ended up using all of the sauce in the recipe. We were extra saucy for sure.

The only concern I had with the chicken was whether it was cooked through after the time spent in the skillet. The recipe says to cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. I would say I left it in the skillet for closer to 3 to 4 minutes on each side and was still reluctant to take it out. I once made hamburgers for my dad and me that were severely undercooked (my dad ate his; I did not) and have erred on the side of overdone ever since. I checked several times before serving to make sure that it was cooked through (it was).

I kept things simple again with the sides. I made some spaghetti for those who wanted a little pasta with the sauce and a simple side salad.

By the time I ate this plate of goodness, I was starving and thankful for the extra tomato sauce (and onions), which I heartily ate.

But the best thing about this recipe had to be its delicious leftovers. I got three meals out of this recipe, counting the original. And the third meal was the best -- I sauteed some zucchini and yellow summer squash with garlic, added the pasta sauce and chicken, and let it all get heated up together. The mozzarella melted over everything and the breaded chicken tasted superb.

Final verdict? I'll be making it again, but probably with store-bought tomato sauce. The diced tomatoes cost me about $5 and I had to buy dried thyme, so for that price jarred tomato sauce would have been just as affordable.

Total cost (counting the $4.99 jar of dried thyme): $25.79.

That fed three people and provided leftovers for just me twice, for a cost per plate of a little over $5.

Now, what to make from issue #4?

See the results from Issue 1 and Issue 2.

Comments

[Melinda]

Very nice! I love that you tweaked the leftovers. Making me hungry!

[Alexis]

Chicken parm has been part of my repertoire since I started cooking, and I love it every time. So glad to see that you chose it to learn from, especially the chopping onions part (which I have yet to master).

[Deb Puchalla]

Love that you got three meals from one. Would love to hear other people's idea for stretching dollars...and tastes

[Stacy]

Loving the articles, Alison! You're definitely making things look easy - I'm going to have to start trying these also. I love chicken parm, so this just might be the first experiment. Keep up the great work!

[Susan]

I'm in love with this entire concept. Everyday Food 4eva, man!

[Shannon]

Well turkey burgers with corn on the cob are always a hit at my house, but poached salmon with green goddess dressing sounds pretty delicious as well!

[Melissa]

This is a great, no fail recipe. But I believe that if you go with the store bought sauce, you will be disappointed. Pasta sauce is the #1 staple in my kitchen and I cook it for 2 days in hugh batches and then freeze in diffent sized servings. Deb (one of your editors says she adds her cheese rinds to her sauce - see her latest post on Parm). The sauce is what makes this or any other Italian dish and can not be overlooked.

[Toni]

This was one of the first Everyday Food recipes I did, a couple of years ago, and I still love it. The best part about this chicken parm is once you have followed the recipe a couple of times (and feel confident) you can make it without the recipe, making it an easy goto dish when you need it.

[Alison]

I do think this will be an easy recipe to remake from memory. I'll have to give homemade pasta sauce another chance!
Has anyone had the mini greek lamb burgers from issue #4? http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mini-greek-lamb-burger

[sarah]

what's up alison! would you mind dropping an email to me...want to ask you about this post :)

[Teresa]

This is one of my absolute favorite Everyday Food recipes, and a great go-to recipe for an easy weeknight dinner! Although I admit, I do use store-bought sauce (and it tastes just as good as the home made in my opinion).

Teresa
http://marthastewart.onfineliving.tv

[Florence]

After reading this I decided to make it and it was wonderful! I'm so excited to try it out on my guests!