Milanese is a dish that requires a lot of butter because you need to get the breadcrumbs nice and crispy, and you don’t want the meat to dry out, said chef James Martin. But the end result makes it worth it – especially served up with a zingy salad.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 100g plain flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 100g panko breadcrumbs
- 2 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally (don’t cut all the way through)
- 125g butter
- a few sprigs of tarragon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- lemon wedges, to serve
For the salad:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- 1⁄2 fennel bulb
- selection of radicchio and little gem leaves
- 1 pink grapefruit, one half segmented, the other half juiced
For the dressing:
- 25ml white-wine vinegar
- grapefruit juice from above
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 50ml vegetable oil
- a few sprigs of tarragon, leaves picked
- a splash of water (optional)
Method
- Put the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs into 3 separate shallow bowls and season the flour with salt and pepper. Dip the chicken first into the flour, then in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs to coat.
- Melt the butter with the tarragon in a frying pan and fry the chicken for about 8 minutes on each side, until cooked through and crispy.
- For the salad, have a bowl of iced water ready. Shave the fennel into the iced water, either using a mandolin or a sharp knife.
- For the dressing, whisk together the ingredients, adding a splash of water if you prefer a thinner dressing.
- Drain the fennel.
- Pile the salad leaves into a serving bowl and top with the shaved fennel and grapefruit segments. Spoon over the dressing.
- Put the fried chicken on serving plates and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve with the dressed salad.
Taken from James Martin’s Saturday Morning: Comforting and Foolproof Recipes for Every Day by James Martin.
Sign up for The Week’s Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
-
Farage’s £9m windfall: will it smooth his path to power?In Depth The record donation has come amidst rumours of collaboration with the Conservatives and allegations of racism in Farage's school days
-
The issue dividing Israel: ultra-Orthodox draft dodgersIn the Spotlight A new bill has solidified the community’s ‘draft evasion’ stance, with this issue becoming the country’s ‘greatest internal security threat’
-
Codeword: December 13, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
One great cookbook: Natasha Pickowicz’s ‘More Than Cake’the week recommends The power of pastry brought to inspired life
-
It Was Just an Accident: a ‘striking’ attack on the Iranian regimeThe Week Recommends Jafar Panahi’s furious Palme d’Or-winning revenge thriller was made in secret
-
Singin’ in the Rain: fun Christmas show is ‘pure bottled sunshine’The Week Recommends Raz Shaw’s take on the classic musical is ‘gloriously cheering’
-
Holbein: ‘a superb and groundbreaking biography’The Week Recommends Elizabeth Goldring’s ‘definitive account’ brings the German artist ‘vividly to life’
-
The Sound of Music: a ‘richly entertaining’ festive treatThe Week Recommends Nikolai Foster’s captivating and beautifully designed revival ‘ripples with feeling’
-
‘Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right’ by Laura K. Field and ‘The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare’ by Daniel SwiftFeature An insider’s POV on the GOP and the untold story of Shakespeare’s first theater
-
Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secretsfeature Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, through Feb. 22
-
Homes with great fireplacesFeature Featuring a suspended fireplace in Washington and two-sided Parisian fireplace in Florida
