Peppered Parmesan Chicken

One of the nice things about cooking is you don't have to re-invent the wheel.  Keep in mind that a recipe is just a starting point.  It isn't written in stone.  A substitution here, addition there or tweak of the seasonings in an old stand-by dish can change the dish just enough to make an entirely new dish.  Most home cooks alter recipes either as a result of need (eg. out of an ingredient) or desire (eg. don't care for an ingredient).  I like altering recipes and dishes just to see what I can come up with.

Shake & bake chicken was one of the first dishes I cooked as a newlywed.  The standard meal of shake & bake chicken, potatoes and corn remain a family favourite.  I no longer buy the commercial coating but rather use my homemade shake & bake chicken coating.  Last night I tweaked the basic coating to get slightly different results by adding fresh ground black pepper and about a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the coating.  The Parmesan cheese gave a rather pleasant, crispier texture to the chicken.  While the cheese added flavour it was not strong but rather a hint.  The fresh ground pepper worked nicely with the cheese to add that little extra as well.  All in all, the dish was a delicious success!