Chicken & Eggplant Parmesan Stacker

It seems like ages since my last post so I figured I'd make another contribution! Hopefully I don't neglect you guys as bad in the coming weeks - sorry!

Backstory: When I was younger, I used to go to a restaurant in Red Bank, NJ which served their version of Chicken & Eggplant Parmesan. That's right - chicken parmesan layed with eggplant parmesan. It was fantastic. The problem was that they removed this from their menu a few years back and since them, I had been dying to relive this meal at home. Below is the recipe I came up with in bringing this dish to life.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken Cutlets - Thinly Sliced

1 Eggplant

1 Jar of your favorite Marinara Sauce

1 Package of Shredded Mozzarella

~2 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs (This will vary)

~2 Large Egg (This will also vary slightly)

Vegetable Oil (For Cooking)

Parmesan Cheese to Taste (mix with Breadcrumbs to add flavor)

Sea Salt to Taste

Black Pepper to Taste

1. Start by slicing your Eggplant. I found a lot of success with these being around 1/4 inch or thinner.

2. Prep the egg-wash. I used 2 eggs, added salt and pepper, and whisked it together.

3. Prep the breadcrumbs. Pour about 2 cups of breadcrumbs onto a large plate. If desired, mix some parmesan cheese into the breadcrumbs at this point.

4. Dip your eggplant slices into the egg-wash ensuring that it is fully coated. Then transfer to your breadcrumb plate and flip it back and forth until covered.

5. Take your chicken cutlets and repeat step 4 to egg-wash and breadcrumb the pieces.

6. In a large frying pan, pour enough oil to fill the bottom of the pan and heat up at around medium-high heat.

7. Place the eggplant into the pan using as much surface areas as you.

8. Cook each side until golden brown - mine cooked for about 90 seconds on each side. Try to only flip once.

9. Remove from pan and place onto a plate to cool. I always place 2-3 paper towels on plate ahead of time to absorb excess oil.

10. You will now proceed with cooking you chicken following the same rules as steps 7-9 with the eggplant. Chicken was about 2 minutes on each side.

Also, try your best to remove the burnt crumbs from the bottom of the pan. You'll notice that I didn't do the best job with this which explains the picture above.

11. Remove chicken and transfer to another cooling plate.

12. Transfer your chicken cutlets to your oven safe baking dish (also not a bad time to preheat your oven to around 400 degrees).

13. Add a spoonful of your favorite marinara sauce to the top of each piece of chicken.

14. Cover each piece of chicken with a piece of eggplant (you can cut the eggplant to accommodate for smaller chicken pieces.

15. Add another spoonful of sauce and cover each piece generously with mozzarella cheese!

16. Allow about 15 minutes to bake (give or take mainly based on how long it takes for the cheese to melt).

17. Serve!

18. Enjoy!

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe as much as I did making it. As always, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!

- Corey

The Infamous Turkey Meatballs

Tonight, I bring you another one of my favorite recipes - my Turkey Meatballs. So many of you have been asking about the infamous meatballs and tonight, I will share exactly how I make them.

Before I start, I have to give a shout-out to my mother for the inspiration on these. So much of my cooking influence comes from her and I am thankful for everything she taught me... and continues to teach me in the kitchen.

Now, with this recipe, the first thing I am always asked is "why turkey and not beef"? Well, to me, I have yet to find a beef meatball that I enjoy better than these although I do love a good beef meatball from time to time. It all comes down to preference but I definitely recommend that everyone give these a try.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

~1 lb Ground Turkey Meat

2/3 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 Large Egg

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (For Cooking)

Fresh Basil

Sea Salt to Taste

Black Pepper to Taste

1.  Start by portioning out your Parmesan Cheese and Seasoned Breadcrumbs and then blend together. This will ensure even distribution.

2. Take your Ground Turkey and place into a large bowl. Break into smaller pieces.

3. Next, add your Egg, Basil, and your Parmesan/Breadcrumb blend. Add Salt & Pepper if desired.

4. Using your hands, mix together all of the ingredients thoroughly.

5. Now it is time to shape your meatballs. I try to make mine slightly bigger than a golf-ball. Feel free to experiment here with sizes.

6. Heat up your pan to a medium heat and lightly coat the bottom of the pan with extra virgin oil.

7. Once heated, drop in your meatballs leaving space between each.

8. The hard work is all done. You goal now is to simply rotate the meatballs every few minutes until browned on a few sides.

9. And that is it folks. Once you feel the meatballs are cooked through, remove from the pan and transfer to a plate to rest. It is at this point that I often drop them straight into my sauce pot but this is optional. This does give the sauce lots of flavor and the meatballs definitely get some great flavor as well.

Fin.

Fast and Flavorful Filet Mignon

Today, I bring you one of my favorites - Filet Mignon. For those of you that know me, you know that I'm a bit of a steak-snob. I always try to get the best cuts because I believe that you truly can taste the difference. Always try to start with the best product you can.

The other key here is the cook temperature. Everyone prefers different cook temperatures whether it be that they prefer a certain taste, or more commonly, because more rare steaks scare some. I'm here to tell you that Rare-Medium Rare steaks are better - they are more tender and have more flavor. Don't believe me? Try this technique! You'll never order Well Done again...

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: <10 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 Filet Mignon Steaks

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (For Cooking)

3-4 Tbsp Salted Butter

Fresh Rosemary (or any other Fresh Herbs you have)

Sea Salt to Taste

Black Pepper to Taste

An oven safe grill pan is used in this recipe.

That is it!

1. To start, we need to prep our steaks. As with many of my recipes, I go a bit overboard with Sea Salt and Black Pepper. In this case, this helps to crisp the outside so definitely take the opportunity to spice up things! Just remember to cover both sides.

2. After seasoning, I let the Filets rest for about 25-30 minutes - this is crucial to bring the Filet to room temperature and allowing for even cooking.

3. Preheat your oven to 400 Degrees.

4. Next, you want to heat up your Grill Pan. You pan should be very hot before you put the steaks in. Once the pan is hot, coat the bottom with pan with your Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You don't need much - a quick drizzle is sufficient.

5. Now you can finally start cooking! Drop the Filets in the pan and let them cook for about 2 minutes (90 seconds if your Filets are thinner than usual). Once your Filets start cooking, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT TOUCH THEM. Only Flip them once they have had the correct amount of time in the pan.

6. So you flipped your steaks. Now just patiently wait another 90 seconds or so for the other side to cook. At this point, you should have your Herbs and Butter (cut into pieces) ready.

7. Now drop your pieces of butter in the pan around the Filets and place your Herbs on top.

8. As soon as you have done this, transfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking. This process only takes an additional 2 minutes.

9. After you take the pan out of the oven, tilt the pan so that the Butter can be drizzled on top with a spoon a few times adding some flavor back the the Filet.

10. You should now remove the Filets from the pan and place on a plate to rest. Do not cut the Filet early.

11. Once the Filet has had about 5 minutes to rest, serve!

And there you have it folks - a fantastic Filet Mignon.

Super Simple & Savory Pan-Fried Chicken

It is good to be back! I have to admit that i missed blogging but I simply did not have the best tools to work with. Now, with a full kitchen, I simply have no excuse.

So it has been quite a long time so I figure we get back into the swing of things with an easy one that does not sacrifice anything in flavor.

Here we have some of the best Pan-Fried Chicken that I've ever had and the best thing - it is the simplest thing you'll ever make.

*** UPDATE ***

Complements of my buddy Mr. Dave Cacciatore, wanted to add a possible variation in here before starting. Take your chicken drumsticks and soak them in buttermilk for several hours before using. This is sure to make the recipe even better.

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: ~20 Minutes (Varies based on Chicken Drumstick size.

Ingredients:

5 Medium Sized Chicken Drumsticks
Vegetable Oil for frying
1 Cup Flour
Salt & Pepper to taste
Any other spices that you so desire (definitely experiment here).

1. Preheat oil - approximately 1 centimeter up in the pan at about medium temperature.

2. Rinse your chicken under water. This is something I do out of habit to clean but this will help later in the process as well. You do not need to blot the chicken dry.

2. Next comes the spices. Honestly, I go nuts here. Put as much as you want here. I use my sea salt and pepper grinders almost excessively here.

3. Now the flouring stage - I use a ziplock for this. Simply pour the flour in the bag and drop the chicken in 1 at a time. With the chicken in the bag, seal (or hold it closed) and shake the bag to fully coat the chicken.

4. Next, drop the chicken into the frying pan. The main thing here is to not get overly flip-crazy. Just let the chicken do it's thing in the until you feel the need to flip it - about 3-4 minutes a side depending on your pan.

5. Once it looks a nice golden brown like above, remove the chicken from the pan and place directly onto a plate with a paper towel on it (to remove some of the excess oil).

And that is it folks. I hope you enjoy this one and look forward to posting again soon. Corey's Crave Case is back!

As always, post comments!

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