So our second dinner with strangers per my New Years Resolution was a sly attempt to lure people to our house to celebrate Izzy’s fifth birthday. Our strangers were two couples from our church who were all rather surprised at the fanfare KP and I orchestrate on behalf of our bulldog. “How does Izzy know today’s her birthday?” Kay, stranger #2, asked me. How do any of us know it’s our birthday, I responded, there’s no internal birthday clock. A birthday is whenever loved ones conspire to sabotage us with love. It really should happen more often than once a year.
Izzy loved her cake, as you can tell by her giddy affect.
For our dinner with our beloved strangers, we served Chicken Milanese. Quick, easy, and full of flavor. Very low-stress dinner to serve when entertaining.
Chicken Milanese
Adapted from Food and Wine
2 eggs
3 TB Dijon mustard
1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
1 ½ cups panko bread crumbs
4-6 4-oz chicken breasts, sliced thin (1/2 inch)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 TB fresh lemon juice
¼ cup chopped parsley, or basil (which is what I used)
Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
In a pie plate or shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the mustard and cayenne and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the bread crumbs in a separate bowl or pie plate. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then dredge in the panko, press to help it adhere.
In a large skillet, heat 1/3 cup olive oil until shimmering. Add the chicken and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned and white throughout, 4-6 minutes. Transfer chicken to plates.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss the tomatoes, lemon juice and parsley or basil with a tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the tomatoes over the chicken and garnish with cheese. Serve immediately.
So good, the chicken is very moist and tender. Olive oil is easy to burn so you have to take care not to turn the skillet up too hot. Be sure to let your bulldog have a little taste, if its her birthday. With a little nibble of cake…
When we celebrate a birthday….we celebrate the gift. Izzy is such a gift, so many laughs, so much comfort…she never gives unwanted advice or complains..she likes you in sunshine and shadow and if you have a cookie. Cheers, Queen IZ…
Sounds like someone else I know with a birthday coming up… Izzy sends a thank you note to you for her frisbee. She loves it, but is looking forward to temps getting above zero so she doesn’t have to dance on ice to fetch it.
Thank you…and I would like you if you didn’t have a cookie/bread.
Happy half-decade Birthday Ms. Izzy!!! LOL at her cake, and extremely “giddy affect” 😉 Also, I love your sassy and wise reply to the question about her awareness of her birthday!
My mother’s birthday was this weekend too– so all around a celebrity weekend in my life, then, to add the Oscars… star power
Oh my, so many celebrations in the family! I imagine that you were extra-glowy in recent days, celebrating the lives of these two ladies who you so obviously love and treasure 🙂 And the Oscars! How much goodness can fit into a span of several days?! 🙂