Brown Rice Milanese Food

PERFECT BROWN RICE

Steps:

• Rinse the rice in a fine-mesh sieve under cold water for 30 seconds. Drain.
• Combine the rice, salt and 2 cups water in a wide, medium saucepan and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until all liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

CHICKEN MILANESE

Steps:

• Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
• Season the pounded cutlets evenly on all sides with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in 3 separate, shallow bowls. Season the flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt, the eggs with 1/4 teaspoon salt and the breadcrumbs with 1/2 teaspoon salt. One at a time, dredge the seasoned chicken cutlets in the flour, then the egg mixture finishing with the breadcrumbs, pressing gently to make sure the breadcrumbs are evenly coating the chicken.
• Add the oil to the hot pan and heat another 10 seconds. Add the breaded chicken to the pan and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the first side is deep golden brown and the chicken is beginning to look cooked around the edges. Work in batches if needed. Flip the cutlets and continue to cook on the second side until golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes longer. Remove the chicken to a wire rack and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper if desired. Serve hot with 1 or 2 lemon wedges and a small arugula salad, if desired.

RISOTTO MILANESE

Steps:

• Coat a large saucepan generously with olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and sweat them until translucent, about 5 minutes. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, letting the rice slightly stick to the bottom of the pan and scraping it off. It should also sound crackly.
• Add the saffron to the hot chicken stock; the stock should turn bright yellow.
• Add the wine to the pan until it covers the surface of the rice. Season with salt and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously until the wine has absorbed into the rice. Add the saffron chicken stock to the pan until it covers the rice. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously until the stock has absorbed into the rice.
• Repeat this process two more times with the hot saffron chicken stock. When the third addition of the stock has absorbed and the rice is very creamy, bite a couple grains of rice to be sure it is cooked perfectly. If it is still a little crunchy, add a little more stock and cook the rice for another couple of minutes. When the rice is cooked perfectly, remove it from the heat.
• Toss in the butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano and "whip the heck out of it." The rice should be creamy but still flow and hold its own shape.