As a man, it is in our DNA to not throw anything away.  I hear all the wives out there screaming right now and saying to their husbands, you got to read this post right now.  He has you pegged.  Well using leftovers is not a crime.  A lot of things are even better the next day as the flavors sink in even deeper.

How do you merge recipes you have already cooked.  A little ingenuity and a little bit of understanding of ingredients that should fit together.  Most times it works, but not always.  That doesn’t mean we should not try it.  I am, primarily, the guy who is going to eat the leftovers.  For this combination, I had my chicken Milanese and my eggplant, red pepper tapanade.  The tapanade had great vegetables with some great olive oil, a little bit of spice.  Top the chicken and a nice spin has arrived.

Recipe

Breaded Chicken and Eggplant Red Pepper Tapanade:

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless, Chicken Breasts; sliced thin

12 oz Italian breadcrumbs

6 oz of shredded Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp each salt and pepper

2 eggs, beaten

8 tbsp canola oil

Directions:

Set up a dredging station with beaten eggs in one bowl and all the breadcrumbs and the Parmesan cheese in a second bowl.  First, drop the chicken into the egg wash and let drip before dropping into the breadcrumbs.  Then, place into the breadcrumbs and pat the crumbs into the breasts.  Drop slowly into the hot skillet.  I had a full layer of oil in the pan and used 2 pans to avoid the oil from getting the burnt crumbs left behind in the cooking process.  Cook 2 – 3 minutes per side.  The breasts will brown more while place on the cooling rack.  Preheat oven to 275 degrees and cook the breasts for 8 -10 more minutes.

Ingredients: