A couple of nights in the past, Scott Conant’s daughter needed a “very well-known burger” from a “very well-known fast-food restaurant” for dinner. His youngsters don’t actually eat a lot processed meals, so as an alternative, he challenged himself to make a more healthy model of the recipe at house.
The consequence? He says he did a fairly good job and that his daughter was content material. Both means, it’s fairly becoming that Conant, who gained notoriety as a Meals Community choose on such competitors exhibits as Chopped, is put by the paces in his house kitchen.
“My household undoubtedly challenges me within the kitchen most of the time,” confirms the award-winning chef, restauranteur, and cookbook writer. “These are the enjoyable — and finest — features that preserve me on my toes.”
And that’s simply the way in which he likes it. For Conant, who owns Mora Italian in Phoenix and the Italian-inspired steakhouse Cellaio within the Catskill area of upstate New York, time spent within the kitchen and across the desk with household is sacred. It’s what outlined his childhood rising up in New England together with his Southern Italian grandparents, what impressed him to pursue a profession within the meals business, and what defines his daughters’ childhood at present.
“[The table] is the place I’ve watched my youngsters develop up and the place I’ve watched my dad and mom develop previous,” says Conant, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, together with his spouse and two daughters. “I’ve at all times been a little bit of an observer, watching the conversations and the way they’ve advanced over time between my youngsters and my household. That has affected my life profoundly.”
Whereas the lifetime of a restauranteur means he’s usually away, Conant cooks as a lot as attainable when he’s house. One staple on the Conant desk is the common-or-garden rooster cutlet. Pounded skinny, coated with seasoned flour and breadcrumbs, after which shallow-fried till crispy, it’s Conant’s all-time favourite factor to eat. He’s proud to say that his daughters are 100% on workforce rooster cutlet, too. The problem (there’s that phrase once more) he faces is tips on how to put together the dish in a means that serves up selection — and a few greens.
A solution is that this recipe for rooster cutlets with burrata and melted baby-tomato sauce, from his newest cookbook Peace, Love, and Pasta: Simple and Elegant Recipes from a Chef’s Home Kitchen. Conant initially ready the dish on the At present Present, and after getting optimistic viewer suggestions, determined to make it for his daughters. They beloved it and it has since turn into a key participant of their household dinner rotation.
The recipe misleading in its simplicity, pulling collectively a scrumptious array of flavors and textures with a number of completely balanced components: crispy rooster and creamy burrata, with a tart hit from the tomatoes. Conant says to think about it as a riff on rooster Parmesan that has higher taste due to the melted sauce and milky acidity introduced in from the cheese. It’s additionally, he factors out, simpler to arrange as a result of the cutlet doesn’t have to return to the oven after the cheese is added.
Problem accepted. Right here’s tips on how to make it.
Rooster Cutlets With Burrata and Melted Child-Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Elements
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
2 giant eggs
4 cups (320 g) panko
¼ cup recent oregano leaves
½ cup (50 g) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon crushed crimson pepper
4 boneless rooster thighs or breasts, pounded 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick with a meat mallet
¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons (½ stick/55 g) unsalted butter
4 to five sprigs thyme
1 recipe Melted Child-Tomato Sauce (see under)
1 cup (100 g) burrata, at room temperature
Instructions
In a shallow bowl mix the flour and a pinch of salt. In a second shallow bowl, beat the eggs with a splash of water and a pinch of salt. In a 3rd shallow bowl, mix the panko, oregano, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, crimson pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. Evenly sprinkle salt over the rooster thighs, then dredge one seasoned rooster thigh within the flour, ensuring to coat either side evenly. Shake off extra flour, then dip the thigh into the seasoned egg wash, ensuring to coat either side evenly. Let extra egg combination drip off then dip the thigh into the panko combination, urgent right down to coat the rooster totally with the breadcrumb combination on either side. Put aside and repeat with the remainder of the rooster.
Warmth the oil in a big sauté pan set over medium warmth and add the breaded rooster cutlets, working in batches if mandatory. Prepare dinner till the breading is golden brown on the underside, 7 to 9 minutes, then flip and add the butter and thyme to the pan. Prepare dinner the second aspect of the cutlets till golden brown, basting with the browning butter, 3 to 4 minutes. Take away the cutlets to a paper towel-lined plate and flippantly sprinkle salt over each. Repeat till all of the cutlets have been fried.
Divide the cutlets amongst 4 dinner plates. Spoon melted baby-tomato sauce excessive, then add a number of spoonfuls of burrata on prime of the tomatoes. Season with further salt to style and serve instantly.
Melted Child-Tomato Sauce
Makes about 3½ cups (840 ml)
Elements
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon thinly sliced garlic
½ tablespoon chopped recent oregano
½ teaspoon crushed crimson pepper
4 cups (580 g) blended cherry tomatoes, minimize in half
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon chopped recent basil leaves
Instructions
In a sauté pan, warmth the oil barely over low warmth. Add the garlic slices, oregano, and crimson pepper flakes and sauté for 30 seconds. Earlier than the garlic has taken on any colour, add the cherry tomatoes to the pan, flip the warmth as much as medium-high, season with a pinch of salt, and proceed to sauté because the tomatoes launch their juices. As soon as the juices and the pectin from the tomatoes have mixed with the oil and have began to type a pleasant sauce (about 8 to 10 minutes), stir within the basil. Take away from warmth and modify the seasoning with salt. Serve instantly, or retailer in an hermetic container within the fridge for 4 to five days, till prepared to make use of.
