Date Night Dinner

Date night at our house.  It can be a hard thing to come by, but after the last two weeks we've had, it was much needed.  I had some chicken that I had thawed, so I knew I wanted to cook that, but I wanted to try something new with it. 

I almost always do chicken in the oven after browning it on the stove top.  The reason is that when I try to cook it on the stove, one of two things happens. Either the outside gets done nicely and it's raw inside, or the inside cooks and the outside is burned beyond recognition.  But tonight, I was unafraid! I was bold! I was... hungry.  And I didn't want to wait 45 minutes for chicken to bake. I faced my fears! I made Crusted Pan-seared Chicken breast with noodles.

Chicken Recipe
3 large chicken breasts, 3/4 cup flour, salt/pepper, 5 cups crushed cornflakes, 1/2 cup milk, 6 tbs olive oil

Noodles and Sauce
12 oz egg noodles, 10.75 oz can cream of chicken and mushroom soup (I used low fat), splash of milk

In three seperate pans, place the flour, milk, and cornflakes.

Pound three large chicken breasts to make them thinner and easier to cook evenly (Thanks, mom!), and cut them each in half, trimming the fat.

Salt and Pepper the chicken on both sides. Dredge the chicken in flour and place it in the freezer for 5 minutes. This helps the flour set into the chicken.  Put the noodles on to boil. If they start to boil over, remember to use this little tip!

After the five minutes is up, dredge the chicken pieces in milk, then the crushed cornflakes.  Put 6 tbs olive oil into a heated skillet (medium-high heat).  My aunt got me these heart-shaped measuring spoons that I adore! The tablespoon says "Heap of Love" as its measurement! Perfect for cooking for the husband =)

Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes on one side until the edges look golden brown.

Do the same to the other side. At this point, the chicken smelled (and looked) amazing!

Reduce heat to medium and cover. My skillet didn't have a lid big enough to cover it, so that lid is actually from my crock pot.  I liked using it though because it let the steam out and didn't keep it trapped with my chicken.  Cook it like this for about 5-7 more minutes.

By this point the noodles should be cooked.  After the chicken is done and out of the pan, pour the noodles and one can of cream of chicken and mushroom soup with a splash of milk into the pan and heat until warm, seasoning as desired.

 The chicken is a delicious golden-brown, crusted to perfection.

 I served the dish with a side of granny smith apples.  The tartness of the apples plays really well with the juicy chicken!

My husband added the candle to our table and we were ready to dine in style!  It was such a relaxing meal, and I had all the ingredients on hand, so that's a plus.  Best thing is we have leftovers to enjoy for the rest of the weekend!

The end =)


P.S.   ...

The left over chicken made an AMAZING chicken biscuit the next morning!!