Herby Parmesan Crust for Chicken, Fish and More!

I find my cooking habits go through phases; the last few months I seem to have made a lot of things with a bread crumb crust. 

It's always a bit of a performance when you bread your own fish or meat, each step requiring it's own plate, resulting in mounds of dishes to wash at the end. The process itself is also quite convoluted and messy:

  -make breadcrumbs

  -prepare your meat - skin bone and cut to the correct size

  -coat in flour

  -coat in beaten egg

  -coat in breadcrumb mix

However, the result is very worthwhile and certainly far nicer than the processed, over salted, artificially coloured and oil drenched crumb crust you get in ready made meals. Additionally, you can customise and add nutritional value to your breadcrumb mix by adding cheese, herbs, chili, seeds and nuts. You can also use different types of bread such as wholemeal, malted, or sliced and of course it's a great way to use up any bits of stale bread you may have lying around - in fact, stale bread works best.

Once you've made your breadcrumbs you can keep any leftovers in a tub in the fridge...if you've only used dry ingredients such as bread and herbs it will keep for many weeks...if you've added cheese it's probably best to use it up within a couple of days.

Here is the recipe for the bread crumb crust I used for coating some strips of chicken for last night's dinner. With the kids are away in Spain on holiday, it was the ideal opportunity to use the ActiFry.  Although the model I own (the 1kg capacity) is supposed to make sufficient quantity for 4 servings, I have found that this is an exaggeration and we don't even eat large portions as a rule. So, sadly, I rarely use my ActiFry but since it's just the two of us for the next couple of weeks I aim to make the most of it.

This is based on a recipe in a promotional leaflet that came with my Tefal ActiFry promoting the Tefal Fresh Express which according to the manufacturer is "a fun and safe way to shred, slice and grate in seconds". I don't have a "Tefal Fresh Express" machine and as long as you have a food processor, you don't need one either in order to make this recipe.

Neither do you need an ActiFry - you can pan fry or oven bake the breaded meat or fish and get an equally good result.

Herby Parmesan Breadcrumb Crust

Serves 2 (double up quantities as necessary - as mentioned above, left over bread crumbs can be kept in the fridge for several days)

75g fresh Parmesan cheese, finely grated

100g bread (stale is better) torn or cut into large chunks - I don't bother removing the crust

Several sprigs of fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

3 tablespoons plain flour

1 beaten egg

Method:

• Place the Parmesan, bread and herbs in the food processor and whizz until you get a fine texture.
• Put your bread crumb mixture in a bowl.
• On your kitchen counter or table, line up the following:

       -plate for the flour

       -plate with the beaten egg on

       -plate for coating with breadcrumbs

       -plate for the finished breaded pieces, or oven proof tray, depending on how you are cooking them.

• Now coat your prepared meat or fish (I used 2 chicken breast fillets, skin removed, which I cut into strips) with the flour. I simply sprinkle the flour over with a spoon, turn all the meat over and sprinkle some more.
• Next place each piece of floured chicken in the egg - coating all sides.
• Wash your hands to remove all the traces of raw egg and meat.
• Finally coat in the bread crumbs. You can place a fine layer of breadcrumbs on the plate and then lay the meat on top. Using a spoon, sprinkle with more crumbs (if you use a spoon and don't put your hands in the bowl of bread crumbs you won't contaminate them with raw egg and meat and can safely use the left overs for another time)...pat the breadcrumbs gently to ensure they are "stuck". Turn over, sprinkle a little more and pat.... try to use up all the excess crumbs on the plate before adding more from the bowl (using a spoon). Once you are satisfied with your coating, transfer to either plate, or directly to your baking tray.
• Now you can cook to your preference.

I placed my chicken strips in the ActiFry and sprinkled with 1 tablespoon of oil. They took 15 minutes to cook.

You could also shallow fry in a pan, turning occasionally,  until golden and cooked through - usually about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken or fish.

Or you can bake in the oven. Again, cooking times will depend on what type of meat/fish you have and how thick it is.