Italian Sauced Chicken Cutlets (VeganMoFo #10)

YAY! We're leaving tomorrow for our vacation in Vermont, with a stop in Syracuse (Strong Hearts, here we come), a lovely week in Vermont and a stop in the Finger Lakes on our return. Since I won't be cooking there, I thought I'd leave you with a recipe.

This was last night's dinner. It's a little on the salty side, as you'd expect with capers and olives, but that's part of the appeal. It comes together pretty quickly and the crispy coating on the cutlet combines really well with the sauce.

Italian Sauced Chicken Cutlets

2 chicken seitan cutlets
1 tsp basil, divided use
1 tsp oregano, divided use
1/3 cup panko crumbs
pepper
canola for frying
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp onion, finely diced
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp white wine
2 Tbsp black olives, cut in half
2 Tbsp capers, drained
2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes, julienned
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water

First prepare the cutlets. Mine were wet on the outside because they had just come out of the broth, but if yours are dry, dip them in some soy milk. Combine 1/4 tsp basil, 1/4 oregano and a few grinds of black pepper with the panko. Heat a little canola oil in a frying pan. You just need enough to cover the bottom. Really dredge the cutlets in the panko/herb mixture, packing them on with your hands. When the oil is hot, fry them on both sides then keep warm in the oven while you make the sauce.

Wipe out the frying pan and add the olive oil, returning it to medium heat. Dump in the onions and 3/4 tsp basil and 3/4 tsp oregano. Stir a few minutes, then add the broth, the white wine, sugar, olives, capers and sundried tomatoes. Let simmer 10 minutes or so, then add the cornstarch/ water slurry to thicken it up. Simmer about 5 more minutes then serve over the cutlets. They are really good over pasta.

I happened to have a little broth leftover from making Bryanna's Chicken Cutlets. If I didn't, I would have made this broth and added a couple of cloves of garlic with the onions. I can't say enough good things about her cutlet recipe or the broth. I always have some cutlets in the freezer for a quick dinner like this. The cutlet recipe is from this DVD and is worth the cost of the dvd even if I never made another thing from it.

Here's what the cutlets look straight out of the oven. Take a tip from Joanna and roll them out between two pieces of parchment. That is absolutely the most brilliant idea ever. Her recipe is really good, by the way. I just happen to prefer Bryanna's.


Get ready for some posts from the road! If we've made the right sacrifices to the Internet Gods, hopefully all will go well and I can post from Vermont.

This VeganMoFo'er is hitting the highway.