Chicken Parmesan

Steps

1. Simmer20 min
   medium-low, uncovered
   • garlic
   • tomato
   • basil
   olive oil + sliced garlic warmed until pale gold, then + crushed tomato + half the basil + 0.25 tsp salt; hold it uncovered until it mounds on a spoon and no water weeps out at the edge — a loose sauce is what soaks the crust later, and no amount of oven time will re-crisp it
2. Season15 min
   room temperature
   • black pepper
   • flour
   chicken cutlets + 1 tsp salt + black pepper on both sides, left to sit while the sauce reduces; the salt draws moisture out and then back in, and a dry-surfaced cutlet is what flour can actually grip
3. Mix3 min
   three shallow dishes
   • eggs
   • breadcrumbs
   • parmesan
   • oregano
   flour in one; beaten eggs in the second; breadcrumbs + half the parmesan + oregano in the third — the cheese in the crumb browns faster than bread alone, so the coating colors before the chicken overcooks
4. Fry8 min
   vegetable oil at 350F, 1/4 inch deep
   cutlets dredged flour → egg → crumb, pressed firmly, then straight into the oil for 3-4 minutes a side; breading that rests wet gets pasty and lifts off in sheets. Drain on a rack, not paper on a plate, so trapped steam cannot soften the underside
5. Top4 min
   in a baking dish, cutlets not overlapping
   fried cutlets + 3 tbsp sauce spooned down the center of each, leaving a half-inch rim of bare crust + mozzarella + remaining parmesan; the dry rim is the insurance policy that some part of the coating stays audibly crisp
6. Bake10 min
   450F, upper third
   until the cheese slumps, blisters, and the sauce bubbles at the edges — the chicken is already cooked, so this is a melting step only; another ten minutes turns a juicy cutlet to string
7. Rest5 min
   uncovered
   molten mozzarella slides off the moment a fork touches it; five minutes lets it set enough to cut. Finish with the remaining torn basil off the heat, where it stays green