Rhona’s chicken

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes 
Cooking time: 30 minutes 

Ingredients
3-4 tbsps vegetable oil
200g dried breadcrumbs (we use panko)
1 lemon, rind finely grated
20g fresh parsley, very finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
4 tbsp grated parmesan
100g flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
4 chicken breasts

Method
Preheat the oven to 180c and put a baking dish large enough to take the 4 chicken breasts with the oil in to the oven to heat up.

Meanwhile, put the breadcrumbs, lemon rind, parsley and parmesan on to a plate and mix together.

On a separate plate put the flour, 1 tsp of salt and a good grind of black pepper.

Into a largeish dish add the egg.

Setup your crumbing station by putting your bowls so the flour is on the left, the egg in the middle and the breadcrumbs to the right.

Place the chicken breasts one by one between 2 sheets of clingfilm and bash with a meat tenderiser or rolling pin to flatten the breasts out a little, you want them to be not as thick, I think 1½-2cm is perfect.  Try to get the breasts fairly even in terms of thickness so that they cook evenly.

Take the breasts one at a time and coat in flour, then dip into the egg and then from the egg put into the breadcrumb mixture, coating each piece of chicken evenly.  Lay each breast on to a chopping board or plate and press down on the breadcrumbed chicken, encouraging them to stick.

Once all of the chicken has been crumbed, put the chicken into the hot oiled dish and put into the oven for 15 minutes before turning and cooking for another 10-15 minutes.  You want the chicken to be golden brown and completely cooked through.  The easiest way to check is to cut into one.