John McCormack: Hi everybody! How are you doing? I am Chef John McCormack at The Trois Estate at the lovely hill country of Fredericksburg Texas. Today we are going to do a classic Italian dish, Chicken Parmesan. First what we are going to do, in the first clip, we will show you prepare great easy marinara. Second, we are going to show you how to cook the chicken. Third, we are going to show you how to layer the dish. And fourth, we are going to show you how to present it in awesome table sight.

What we are going to talk about now is the ingredients for the marinara. Now how to make a great simple marinara, is what I do is take about 16 ounces of fire roasted tomatoes. You can use the cans, 16 ounces of a good plumed tomato as well. What you want to do, set them aside, get your big saut pan, and here are some other ingredients, you are going to need. You are going to need good olive oil, you are going to need some garlic, you are going to need some onions, you are going to need some basil. You are going to get a good beef stock, I use a dim, that we have here demiglace, but a beef stock at home would be just fine. A nice half gallon, that's a little much, but that's what I use. You can use, maybe a good quarter and a half of a good red wine.

Okay. Next we are going to talk about the ingredients that we are going to need for the chicken. We are going to use a good 7 to 9 chicken breast, cleaned. We are going to set it aside. We are going to have couple of eggs in a bowl. We are going to have nice Italian bread crumbs. Now the way we make Italian bread crumbs here at The Trois Estate is a great way to salvage our daily bag eggs that we use. We take a bag egg. We put it in the fruit processor. We let it go round and round, we have a little parsley, and a fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano. That's the home made way. You are going to have to get a good blend of Parmigiano-Reggiano. You can buy so many different brands out there. Take your pick, but get a good one, but I am going to use a blend of that, with a good mozzarella, to give a good, nice, cheese smoky flavor on the top with a good melt as well. Also very important, with the ingredients, you want to talk about the seasonings that are going to go on this marinara. So we are going to have little crushed red pepper, we are going to have some big basil leaves, about three or four will do. Some dried oregano, some good course of salt, butter. So the tools, you are going to need are a big saut pan. You are going to need bowls for your eggs, you are good to need bowls containers for your bread crumbs. You are going to need a good chopping board. You are going to need a good chef's knife and a good whisk.

Now some quick tips at home, remember you are cooking with very hot items. Be careful with children around you. Try to cook on the back burner, maybe so the little ones would reach up and grab them by the front handles. Now remember, you are also cooking with chicken, possibility of some food-borne illness. So remember, don't be afraid to give a little bleach wipe down on all your cutting more surfaces.

One quick thing, before we get started I am a graduate of a French Culinary Institute in New York City, on Broadway & Grand. Well after that I worked at Lutece and Lutece, Las Vegas. I had my own restaurant up at the Yellowstone Park, and did my work at the resorts of the Grand Hyatt, and of the Hilton. Came out here at the beautiful Trois Estate, where now I am the Executive Chef. Let's get started and we will show how to do a great Chicken Parmesan.