When I was a kid, I loved everything about my aunt Andi. She was human, wife, and parent done right. I remember feeling like she was the first modern woman I’d ever met - she was independent, had her own sense of style, and her own personality. I was in awe of her and Ed.
She also had great recipes. Right around the middle of my teens, I became more interested in cooking, and on Nov. 4, 1978 (my 15th birthday), Andi wrote down all her best recipes, hand-bound them, and gave them to me as a present. At the time, this was the only way to give other people recipes - to write them down or cut them out from magazines and books. There was no Bon Appétit, no New York Times cooking, and no fancy cooking shows on Netflix. If you wanted to share a recipe, you had to write it down. It was not an easy task. The notebook was bound with one of those plastic ring binders, and the cover was made of sticky contact paper.
Andi wrote an inscription for me:
Dear Carrie
I hope you will enjoy using this cookbook for many years to come . These are my best and most delicious recipes, and I’m sure that someday your husband will enjoy eating them as much as your family will now. Have fun trying everything and please think of me each time you make something from the book.
I love you,
Andi
The chicken cutlet recipe reproduced here was one of Andi’s original recipes, given to me 43 years some undisclosed but flatteringly low number of years ago.
Recipe serves 4.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken cutlets; cut or pounded thin
- 2 cups of unflavored greek yogurt
- You can substitute sour cream
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 1 teaspoon of smoked or regular paprika (I used the smoked)
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
- The breadcrumbs can be gluten free (I like “Ian’s” brand)
- Also note that if you don’t have seasoned breadcrumbs, add Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper to unseasoned breadcrumbs to make your own
- 1 cup rolled plain oats (regular or quick cook)
- You can pulse the oats in a food processor first (I leave mine whole)
- (Optional) half cup of butter; melted
- Fresh arugula
- Cherry or grape tomato; cut in half
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Any vinegar suitable for a salad dressing
- You can substitute fresh lemon juice
- (Optional) salad herbs and dijon mustard for the salad dressing
Instructions
- To marinate the chicken, combine ingredients 2-9 into a large container, submerge chicken cutlets in the marinade, cover, and marinate overnight or as long as you can
- When you are ready to make the chicken, combine the breadcrumbs and the oats
- Season this mixture with salt and pepper to taste
- Spray a baking dish big enough to hold all cutlets in 1 layer
- Remove the cutlets from marinade, no need to shake the marinade off
- Bread cutlets in the breadcrumb and oat mixture
- Place breaded cutlets into a single layer on the oiled baking sheet
- Spray the cutlets with olive oil
- If using butter, pour melted butter over chicken
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until light brown and a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees
- While the cutlets are baking, prepare your salad: combine oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste
- Optionally, include lemon juice, herbs, and/or dijon here.
- Toss the dressing mixture with the tomatoes and arugula. Importantly, massage the salad with your hands to incorporate the dressing.
- Serve the salad over or under the hot chicken cutlet.
The first time I made these chicken cutlets, I was 15. I ate them with my whole family - my mom Carol and my dad Irv, and my siblings Debbie and Jerry. We ate them in our kitchen in Toms River, NJ. The kitchen, I remember, was smaller than my bathroom right now (which, admittedly, is pretty big). It was tiny. The table was made of formica with a boomerang pattern, and it was in the middle of what we called “the nook,” which was a a vinyl-covered L-shaped booth. My dad always sat at the head of the table in the nook.
We always ate dinner together. My mom cooked unless we needed to grill; that was my dad’s job. I don’t remember either of my parents being very good cooks (which is why I needed to step up). My mom just didn’t love cooking that much (in fact, she liked it so little that after she died many years later, I opened up her oven to find the “Remove before Use” sticker still prominently displayed on the oven door.
My dad was another story. He loved to grill, but he was terrible at it. As a young kid I remember cutting into chicken that was charred black on the outside but totally raw on the inside. After eating that chicken it’s a miracle I’m still alive to tell you this story. I think his problem was his grill-lighting method. He’d put charcoals in the bottom of the grill, pour half a bottle of lighter fluid over top, and set the whole thing up in flames with a match. It was an explosion fit for an action movie. Luckily for all of us, I remember that as I got older, my dad became the best griller in the neighborhood.
At the table, we always talked about our days at at school or camp. I remember us all having a good time at dinner, that is until my parents would make something very Jewish like gefilte fish or tongue. It was a rule in the house that we had to try everything, which I did (sometimes through tears). Now, as an adult, I suppose this makes sense. You just won’t know if you like something until you try it (but trust me, you definitely won’t like gefilte fish).
The chicken cutlets aren’t the only recipes I’ve continued to make from this book. Some of my favorite recipes, ones I have made for my entire life, have come from Andi’s book: broccoli casserole (which we make every Thanksgiving), veal piccata, and Aunt Sylvia’s spare ribs (which are so delicious). There’s also a dessert section. The whole thing is just loaded with chocolate: double chocolate nugget cookies, “The Best Chocolate Brownies,” chocolate cake, double chocolate chip cake, chocolate mousse (and, finally, a sugar cookie). I was reading that dessert section today when I discovered a recipe that I had long forgotten about - “Teri’s Grandma’s Walnut Cake” - and which I plan to make next.
I’ve used this book for my entire life, and it shows. The pages are bent and folded and covered in food stains, the binding has been bent over so many times the whole thing is starting to fall apart. It’s also stuffed with clippings from recipe’s I’ve found in books. At the end of the book, where Andi left a few blank pages, I started to add my own.
Andi’s recipes aren’t the lightest food I’ve ever cooked (but with all that schmaltz, the Jews were never known for their healthy cooking anyway). The original chicken recipe, for instance, calls for a cup of butter that you drench the cutlets in while you bake them. What was it that Paula Deen said? “I hate black people” “I will never use a substitute for butter.” Unlike Paula, I usually modify the original recipe a little to incorporate some healthier ingredients. I’ve also started making the salad at the last minute, just before the chicken is ready. This is so I can eat the cold salad with the hot chicken right as it comes out of the oven. And, between you and me, I massage my greens after I dress them. I’m telling you, it works! It reminds me of the 70’s when people thought your plants would grow faster if you talked to them.
There is one thing that hasn’t changed, though. Whenever I make this recipe, I think about Andi. She was right about using these recipes for many years to come. She was also right about my husband. As I write this, Tommy and I are waiting for a batch of chicken to come out of the oven.