The BEST Chicken Parm recipe EVER!

Chicken Parmesan has a history deeply rooted in Italian-American cuisine. Its origins can be traced back to the Italian dish "Melanzane alla Parmigiana," which traditionally consists of breaded and fried eggplant slices layered with tomato sauce and cheese. The transition to using chicken in this dish likely occurred in the United States, where chicken was more readily available and popular.

For the Chicken:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 eggs

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (EVOO)

For the Tomato Gravy:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dried basil

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon honey

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon miso paste

For Serving:

• 8 oz spaghetti

• Fresh basil leaves for garnish

• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.

3. In three separate shallow bowls, set up a breading station. In the first bowl, place the flour. In the second bowl, beat the eggs. In the third bowl, place the panko breadcrumbs.

4. Dredge each chicken breast in the flour, shaking off any excess. Then, dip them into the beaten eggs, allowing any excess to drip off. Finally, coat the chicken breasts in the panko breadcrumbs, pressing the breadcrumbs onto the chicken to adhere.

5. In a large oven-safe skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the breaded chicken breasts and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until they are golden brown and crispy.

6. Transfer the skillet with the chicken to the preheated oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).

7. While the chicken is baking, prepare the tomato gravy. In a saucepan, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté for about 1 minute until fragrant.

8. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, then add the garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano, honey, salt, pepper, and miso paste. Stir well to combine.

9. Simmer the tomato gravy over low heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

10. While the gravy is simmering, cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.

11. Once the chicken is done baking, remove it from the oven and spoon some of the tomato gravy over each chicken breast.

12. To serve, place a portion of cooked spaghetti on each plate. Top with a chicken breast and extra tomato gravy. Sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top, and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy your upgraded Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti and Gravy with the added flavors of fresh basil, dried oregano, and miso paste!

Chef Jake White of Charleston’s best private chef service does a quick video making the best most delicious chicken parm ever. crispy, crunchy, and amazing! simply the best!

Award Winning Smoked Pork Chili

Award Winning Smoked Pork Chili

This Chili recipe is so easy & delicious you’ll never make another chili recipe again. The secret is not getting too crazy with this one. When I think of Chili, I go back to my childhood eating grilled hot dogs and chili loaded with cheese & sour cream on those brisk football sundays. I wanted to create a recipe that revamped the classic Chili I remember eating growing up. Award-Winning Chili recipe coming at ya! 

Smoked Pork: I’m going to save my lecture on the art of smoked barbeque for a rainy day, but if you plan on taking on this portion of the recipe from scratch, here are a few pointers: (don’t be afraid to outsource the smoked pork unless you’re extra like me.) 

• Low & Slow is the way to go

• For a pork butt, I try to maintain my smoker between 200°f-225°f

• Let your pork butt rest OUT of the fridge for a few hours before you plan on smoking. You don’t want to put a cold piece of meat on your smoker. (it’ll help with a more even cook)

• Don’t go crazy with your dry rub! Salt, pepper, and paprika is the way to go! 

• Lather your meat in a mixture of yellow mustard and hot sauce before applying your dry rub. The wet rub acts as a tenderizer and gives your spice blend something to stick to

• When your temperature probe penetrates the meat and feels like a bag of butter, you’ve officially smoked a butt!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 2 lbs smoked pork butt

• 1 Tbsp chili powder

• 4 Tbsp Cumin

• 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar

• 2 Tbsp garlic powder

• 3 tsp salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 3 cups beef broth

• ½ can tomato paste

• 1 can diced tomatoes

• 2 can kidney beans

• 1 can tomato sauce

• 3 bulbs garlic, minced

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat your oil. 

2. When oil begins to sizzle, add your onions and stir until translucent.

3. Add chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, pepper, garlic, and tomato paste. Stir to combine. 

4. Once fragrant, add your beef broth, diced tomato, beans,  and tomato sauce. 

5. Bring everything to a simmer

6. Once simmering, add your shredded smoked pork and stir to combine. 

7. Leave on low heat for several hours or until desired flavor and consistency has been reached. 

Pro Tip: Start this recipe 1-3 days before you plan on actually eating it. The longer you let the Chili simmer, the more the flavors will meld and develop. 

You can adjust the “intensity” of the chili by adding some water or simmering until the chili has reduced to desired flavor.

Garden Vegetable Frittata

Garden Vegetable Frittata

Makes 6-8 servings

This easy garden vegetable frittata recipe is great to prep ahead and pop in the microwave. Use the fresh local ingredients from Rainbow Packaging’s breakfast box or utilize the ingredients you already have at home. 

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs, whisked

• 3/4 cup Evaporated Milk

• ¼ onion, diced

• ½ bell pepper, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• ½ tomato, diced

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

2. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and heavy cream

3. Combine your vegetables and fold together. 

4. Add 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper

5. Put mixture in a seasoned cast iron skillet

6. Put your stovetop burner on low and gently stir eggs until they just begin to scramble.

7. When eggs begin to scramble but have not set yet, put the cast iron into the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes. 

8. Let cool and serve!

This dish can be served warm or cold and is great as leftovers!

Best, 

Chef Jake

Food for Thought: Deploying kindness Pt 1. Patience

Hi there,

Before we dive too deep I need to confess something - I have very little patience, myself. Some might say zero patience. Haters shall hate, but anyways….I share this to preface our conversation by saying being eternally patient is a lifelong practice and takes lots of time and self awareness. Self awareness comes with experiencing life so take it easy on yourself through this personal journey. If our “perfect self” is always a day ahead of us then we’ll never stop growing and that’s a beautiful thing.

Congrats on being a business owner. If your juggling that with being a mother, father, husband, or wife Mazel-freakin- tov to you. You are truly a miracle worker and might even have more to offer here than i do. For me, being an entrepreneur and owning your own business is truly a balancing act. You have a vision for your company. You know how you want to execute it. You hire a team of fine folks to help you execute it. And they’re doing a great job, by all means….BUT, they aren’t doing as good of a job as you could do, or as you envisioned it in your head. First of all Charlie, hold your bloody horses. You’re the head honcho. You’re the reason everyone is there. It’s YOUR visions and YOUR ideas. Of course no one is going to execute your ideas with the same level of passion as you would. The business isn’t their baby like it is yours. That leads us to our first tip in practicing patience.

Setting the Proper Expectations…

..or better yet, don’t set any at all. Human beings are not robots. They make mistakes and where there is margin for error, of any degree, ultimately and inevitably error will follow. You have two choices: to live in the reality being experienced and “react” instead of “predict”, or live in the altruistic place in your mind that rarely ever comes to fruition in real life. Either way, the burden of those thoughts will weigh only on your shoulders and responding poorly to employee error will only negatively affect how that employee interacts with customers throughout the day.

Accepting the “blame”

Wether you like it or not, everything that happens in your business is your fault. All of it. The employee that rang out a customer incorrectly. The customer that wrongfully yelled at one of your employees. It’s all your fault. Being comfortable in the present means being able to take ownership over every single thing that happens in your business, navigating tough decisions in real time, and being able to live with those decisions. If you made the right decision, great. If you made the wrong decision, adjust your plan and move forward. Once you’re able to accept blame you’ll be able to make decisions for your company much more efficiently and to the benefit of you and your employees.

The umbrella method

I’m quite honestly not sure if this concept has it’s own terminology attached to it, but what I call, “the umbrella method”, is a different way of conceptualizing your relationship with your employees. Instead of looking at a business job model as a hierarchy with the owner at the top, think of it as an umbrella. The owner is the little focal point at the top of the umbrella that supports the larger awning, which is ultimately the part that protects you from rain. Without your employees taking ownership of the brand and fully buying into the company, your umbrella has nothing holding it together and is ultimately useless. If a business owner can accept his/her role as a servant to the greater identity of the company - living to serve the employees that make the company operate - they’ll be much more gracious and selfless leaders and be able to respond and pivot with change more easily.

Hop you picked up some tidbits here! Thanks for tuning in. More to come soon!

Keep spreading love, good people!

Best,

D.B.

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