No Carbohydrate Chicken Parmesan
with Parmesan Mushrooms
For 8 cutlets made from 4 breasts
About 3 large portobello mushrooms

This delightful dish has no carbohydrates and no salt yet is tasty and delicious. I’ll tell you the method and you can add on according to the number of cutlets you are making.

  1. Wash the cutlets when you bring them from the supermarket. Pound each cutlet between film or waxed paper. They start to get very big when pounded so you might want to cut each in half and have 2 cutlets from one breast. This can be done the day before.
  2. For the dredging, you’ll need two pans the size of the aluminum lasagna pans—about 8 x 10 inches. I like to use things large enough to keep all of the goop contained.
  3. Into the first, crack 3 eggs and gently stir them up with a fork or whisk.
  4. Into the second pan, plop in about 1 cup of either parmesan or Romano cheese. The better the cheese, the less salty it is.
  5. Dredging the cutlets: Dip 1 cutlet at a time into the egg mixture. Then into the cheese mixture. You can press the cheese into the meat to make sure it’s all coated. Keep doing this until all the cutlets are coated. You can always add more cheese if you need it.
  6. Now that the cutlets are prepared you can fry them up. Be sure that you don’t crowd the cutlets in the pan when frying.
  7. To fry: Use a combination of olive oil and regular vegetable oil. I like all olive but sometimes if the oil isn’t light enough the taste is overwhelming. You can test the oil with a small piece of bread, if it starts to brown quickly you’re ready to rip.
  8. Frying: Place the cutlet in the oil very gently. Don’t plop it in or the oil will spatter and you’ll get burned. (As a professional, no matter what the weather is or how hot the kitchen gets, I always wear my chef coat with long sleeves just because I resent getting burned from oil!) It should start to cook and brown immediately. If it doesn’t then your oil was not hot enough, in which case, pull out the cutlet and wait until the oil gets hotter. When the cutlet is nice and golden brown on the bottom, turn it over and do the same thing. If you have a food thermometer it should read 165 on the inside. However, it is best to go by the looks. Drain the cutlets and then reheat at 375 degrees for 12 minutes before serving.
  9. The Mushrooms: Buy big portobellos and slice them across into thick slices (about 1/3 inch thick or the thickness of a lipliner pencil). Dredge the mushrooms in egg, then cheese, just like the cutlets. HOWEVER, you must use fresh eggs and a clean pan—not the one from the chicken cutlets. That is a no-no because that is how salmonella can enter your mushrooms. Salmonella is killed at 145 degrees, so chances are it will get killed anyway, but why take a chance!
  10. Now you have the chicken cutlets and the mushrooms. Prepare the pan for reheating: Chop two tomatoes into tiny squares, line the bottom of another aluminum pan with the tomatoes, and add some chopped basil or parsley if you have it. Place the cutlets on top, then the mushrooms and shred some mozzarella cheese over the top.
  11. Reheat for about 12–15 minutes until everything is sizzling.

This procedure can be used for veal cutlets, turkey cutlets, or thinly pounded steak.

 

Bananas Foster

3 Bananas
1 Stick Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup Rum
1/2 cup Banana Liqueur

  • Slice bananas into 3 slices lengthwise, then cut in halves.
  • Melt butter in skillet or fry pan.
  • Add brown sugar.
  • Cook over low heat, stirring into thick paste.
  • Add vanilla and banana liqueur and stir well, approximately 3 minutes.
  • Add banana slices and cook over medium heat, basting well with sugar and butter mixture.
  • Cook about 5 minutes. Mixture will bubble while cooking.
  • Heat rum in metal cup, ignite and pour over bananas.
  • Stir well to blend. Serve mixture with pieces of bananas over vanilla ice cream.

Note: Ice cream does best if scooped into balls and frozen ahead of time and bowls are chilled so both are very cold when bananas are ready to serve.

 

Fran’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

12 oz. Butter or Margarine, softened
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1 1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 Tbs. Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 Package Chocolate Chips (24 ounces/4 cups), or chop our own chocolate into bits
4 cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Melt butter in microwave.
  • Mix butter, sugar, eggs in large bowl.
  • Mix flour, baking soda, salt. Do this first, then mix into the egg, sugar, butter mixture, alternating with the chocolate chips.
  • Flour hands.
  • Roll into balls.
  • Bake on ungreased sheet.
  • Bake 12–15 minutes until light brown.

 

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