Chicken Parm as far as the eye can see

We decided to throw a little party for Lupe's sister's birthday. As with everything around here, this quickly got out of hand. We started with just a quiet birthday dinner for Lorena and before long, we were planning on a dinner for 21. Nothing is ever simple. I jumped into the meal planning with both feet. Fortunately, I already had most of what I would need to make a nice Italian dinner. I guess that says something about me, that I just happened to have enough food on hand for a dinner for twenty.

I started making the meat sauce on Saturday evening. I love making meat sauce, but it takes a while to do it right. This is a brief run-down on the process:

Brown a pound or two of Italian sausage. Break up the meat thoroughly while cooking.
Season well with red pepper, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, anchovy paste and Italian seasoning
Add diced onion, garlic and mushrooms (sometimes some finely diced carrot) and cook until they start to soften.
Add tomato paste - a whole can.....I like the very intense tomato flavor.
Deglaze with a cup or two of Chianti. Reduce until liquid has evaporated.
Add several cups of beef stock. I let this reduce until 2/3's of the liquid is gone.
Add tomatoes (San Marzano are best) and sliced black olives.
Simmer for 3-4 hours.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Prep - Day 2

I started the day by boning and trimming 25-30 chicken thighs and a half dozen breasts. I know that chicken Parmigiana is normally made with breasts, but I like using thighs. They have more flavor than the breasts and they stay moist and juicy. After they're boned, I pound them out just enough to get an even thickness. The chicken pieces are heavily seasoned with Cayenne, granulated garlic and salt. I let them sit long enough for the salt to draw out some of the juices. This ensures that the seasoning will get into the flesh and the flour will stick.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I dredge them in flour, shake off the excess and let them sit until the flour sets. After that they get a quick dip in an egg/milk mixture and then are coated with a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs (regular and panko).

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

They are fried until GBD and then removed to a cooling rack. I immediately salt the chicken and top with provolone cheese. These can be held until it is time to assemble the finished dish.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

While waiting for Lupe to to bring home the zucchini, I put together the antipasti salad. Lupe and I have gotten quite fond of this of late. We use three different types of salami, peperoncini, artichoke hearts, green olives and provolone cheese. I made a very nice Romano cheese dressing for the salad.

Lupe and Lorena sliced a ton of zucchini as I put the chicken parm together. I lined the bottoms of three large roasting dishes with meat sauce. The chicken pieces went in and were topped with more sauce. I sprinkled them liberally with grated Romano cheese (I somehow forgot to get Parmesan cheese for the chicken Parmigiana......scandalous) and topped each piece with some fresh mozzarella. Amazingly, there was more chicken left over. That made for some tasty sandwiches later in the week.

With the chicken in the oven I was able to start the sauce for the pasta. I Sautéed some onions, shallots and garlic in duck fat (go big or go home) and then added crimmini and shitake mushrooms. When the mushrooms had softened I deglazed the pan with a cup of white wine. When the wine had reduced, I added a couple of cups of cream and brought to a boil. I held this as I dunked a ton of fettuccine noodles. The zucchini were steamed over the pasta water when the noodles were done.

By this time the chicken parm was ready.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

As the parm rested, I got busy making garlic bread. As always, I used sourdough loaves for the garlic bread. I rub the crust with fresh garlic, split the loaves and brush the tops with seasoned (Cayenne, garlic, Italian seasoning) melted butter. The split loaves go in the oven for a few minutes to warm up. I take them out and sprinkle with grated Romano cheese. Back under the broiler to melt the cheese and it's off to Tasty Town.

Somehow all the elements of the meal came out right on time. I don't think I've ever cooked for so many and had the timing work out so well.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I'm pretty sure the food was well-received. For the first time in my memory we had Familia Lopez eating in silence. I've never seen that before. Usually a Lopez dinner is a fairly high-volume event. This time it was silent. Nothing but the sound of twenty mouths chewing. Now that's quite an achievement. The sound of victory...nom, nom, nom, nom.