what's cooking wednesday: the gwyneth edition

after a long weekend of dress fitting, crab picking, beer drinking, and job interviewing, the beau and i deserved a delicious, home-cooked meal on monday night.  since this was my first time cooking a meal in our new condo, i decided to bring out the big guns: my GP cookbook.  gwynnie never steers me wrong.

the high priestess of prep called to me with the perfectly summery recipes for chicken milanese with tomato and avocado salad and for fresh corn polenta.  while i find it nearly impossible to believe that she eats anything that has been fried or contains cream, this was darn good eatin'!  recipes for how to be fabulous and impossibly stylish in the kitchen below:

i lied.  THIS will be the last crappy crackberry pic.

gwyneth paltrow's chicken milanese

serves 4

4 skinless, free-range, organic boneless chicken breasts, washed and dried

1 cup milk
2 cups plain bread crumbs {japanese panko makes the crispiest crust} mixed with 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and 1 teaspoon coarse salt

place the chicken breasts between two pieces of baking parchment paper. using a mallet {i use a rolling pin}, pound the chicken breasts until they’re very, very thin - you should be able to almost see through them- about 1/6-inch thick. put the milk in a shallow bowl and the bread crumbs on a large plate. dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then dredge it in the breadcrumbs, tapping off the excess. you should have a thin, even coating.


heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet big enough to hold 2 pieces of chicken in a single layer. cook for about 4 minutes on the first side, or until evenly browned and crisp. flip and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes, or until the other side is browned and crisp and the chicken is firm to the touch. wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and the remaining 2 pieces of chicken.

gwyneth paltrow's fresh corn polenta

4 cups water
1 cup polenta
kosher salt
kernels from one ear of fresh corn
pepper
chopped fresh chives
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
bring the water to a boil over medium heat and pour in the polenta. allow it to simmer until cooked as directed on the package. {i could only find instant polenta, but i still cooked mine for about 20-25 minutes. GP's recipe calls for cooking it for 40 minutes.} stir in the corn, milk, cream, salt and pepper and allow it to cook for 5 minutes. remove from heat and serve.

the avocado tomato salad was improved from gwynnies.  i mixed a cup of halved grape tomatoes with 1 diced avocado, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the juice of one lemon, 1 tablespoon of basil, and salt and pepper to taste and spooned it over the chicken. easy peasy.