A Pop-Up Recipe

You can make it or eat it next week

Hi folks. If you don’t already know, I’ll be popping up at Farm to People in Brooklyn next week for two nights of late-summer feasting. I last cooked there back in March and it was a blast; on September 21 and 22, I’ll be back with some seasonal updates to the hits from those last two dinners. If you’re interested in going, head on over to Resy to make a reservation for Thursday or Friday. There will be plenty of autumnal-equinox delights, and, on Friday night, a wonderful dessert from pastry chef Noreen Wasti. I’d love to meet you there if you can attend!

And of course, if you can’t, there is a recipe. The marquee menu item will be the chicken Milanese, served with tomatoes and tonnato, and I’m supplying instructions below for anybody outside the bounds of Brooklyn. This is my favorite form of surf-and-turf; the tuna-mayonnaise sauce complements the panko-fried cutlet so well, achieving a sort of heightened, Italianate version of the two best things you can get at a bodega. The tomatoes, parsley, and red onion also mingle expertly, but of course, you can add on any seasonal veg you’d like.

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Chicken Milanese with Tomatoes and Tonnato

Ingredients

• 4 thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets, pounded evenly

• 2 cups panko breadcrumbs; I like to blitz them a bit until they are relatively fine, which creates a more even crumb

• 3 eggs, beaten

• 3/4 cup semolina flour (or AP)

• 4 oz olive oil-packed tuna

• 3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• Juice of 1 lemon wedge

• Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1/2 red onion, sliced thin

• Handful of parsley leaves

• Peanut oil (or other high-smoke oil)

• Red wine vinegar

• Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Make the tonnato: in a tall container, immersion blend the tuna (including its oil), mayonnaise, Dijon, lemon juice, and a splash of red wine vinegar until completely smooth, drizzling in olive oil while the blender is running. Add more mayo if too thin, or a bit of water if too thick. It should coat a spoon with minimal graininess from the tuna. Salt to taste.

2. Make the tomato salad: in a bowl, combine tomatoes, red onion, and parsley. Season with olive oil and salt and set aside.

3. Set a cast iron pan over high heat and add about 1.5 inches of oil. Heat to at least 350 degrees F.

4. Set up 3 deep plates/bowls. Add the semolina flour to the first, seasoning aggressively with salt. Add the beaten eggs to the second and the breadcrumbs to the third; season each.

5. Dredge the culets in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, respectively. Firmly press the breadcrumbs into the cutlet, creating a dense, even crumb.

6. Working in batches, add the cutlets into the oil, directing them away from you. Fry them until they are a deep golden brown. Remove and place on a wire rack, immediately seasoning with a bit of flaky salt.

7. Add about 3 tablespoons of tonnato to the plate. Plate the cutlet, overlapping it a bit with the tonnato, and add a handful of tomato salad.