It recently struck me that, since the arrival of Covid-19 last year, our lives have become, in some ways, more like those of previous generations. These days, a lot of daily activities are bringing back memories I have of visiting my grandparents back in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Like many others, my grandparents came to the United States as immigrants, arriving by ship from southern Italy in the early 1900s. My grandmother, Francesca, was only 5 years old and spoke no English. Her name was Americanized to Frances and she was enrolled in first grade by her mother Jenny (née Giovanina). Unsurprisingly, my grandmother had to repeat that grade since she didn’t understood a word of her classes that first year.

Italian Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, 1911. Photo: newspapers.com. — **Italian Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, 1911.** *Photo: newspapers.com.*

The only time my grandmother left the U.S. was to go back to Italy for a short visit at age 16, again by boat. At 18, my grandmother met my grandfather and they married right out of high school. Eventually my grandfather had his own successful electronics business, supplying parts for U.S. space capsules. His company was in the same small town that they lived in, Wakefield, Massachusetts, and every workday he would return home for my grandmother’s cooking, heading back to work after lunch. He was no fool — my grandmother was a great cook — and she had learned how to cook all his favorites dishes from his mother.

And that was their life. They had one child, my mother, and they spent all of their time with her and the extended family. They rarely went out to restaurants, and the extent of their travels was the weekly Sunday drive with my grandfather at the wheel. My grandmother didn’t learn how to drive until she was in her 40s. And learning so late in life made her a cautious driver — she was even stopped once by the police for driving too slow on the highway.

My grandparents never stepped foot inside an airplane, even though my grandfather lived until 1978 and my grandmother, 1994. Despite achieving the American Dream, theirs was a simple life of home cooked, Italian-style meals. A glass of wine was always included, and, after dinner, bowls of ice cream on the couch while watching Lawrence Welk on TV; my grandfather smoking a pipe. Nowadays a typical night in my home also includes a home cooked meal, a glass or two of wine, ice cream on the couch (or a cone in bed!), and watching Netflix on TV — pretty similar to my grandparents, but no pipe smoking allowed!

Since last March, when my hectic life of lunches and dinners, wine tastings and traveling the world, came to a halt, I’ve been staying home and cooking a lot more. And, like my grandmother, my husband is now home for lunch. But, truth be told, I’m not spending all day at the stove like my grandmother did. And to be totally honest, I don’t prepare lunch for him either — dinner is all I can handle! And not every night. We do our fair share of ordering in as well.

But from time to time, I’ll cook a dinner with leftovers that can easily be turned into one of Joel’s favorite lunches the next day, chicken cutlet sandwiches. My grandmother’s chicken cutlets were always perfectly cooked; browned until just crispy, not burnt or heavy with oil. I’ve learned that the trick is to make sure the pan gets very hot, being careful not to let the oil begin burning, before putting the cutlets in the pan.

And so, in homage to simpler times, here’s my recipe for crispy chicken cutlets, followed by ideas to make leftover chicken cutlet sandwiches.

Wine Pairing suggestion
Cantina Tramin Pinot Grigio 2019. This northern Italian beauty is a breath of fresh mountain air! And it will enliven the chicken cutlets with a mouthwatering lemony crispness. Read more about this delicious wine from Alto Adige here.

Crispy Chicken Cutlets With Tomatoes

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut or canola oil

Four 9-ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

1) Lay the chicken out on a cutting board. Hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and slice the chicken breasts in half so one breast is now two cutlets. Lay the chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound out with a meat mallet to 1/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle them on both sides with salt and pepper.

2) Set out three soup bowls and add the flour to the first, eggs to the second, lightly beating them, and panko to the third with salt and pepper mixed in. Dredge each cutlet through the flour, then egg, then panko.

3) Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet. Once oil is hot and shimmering, add the cutlets, in batches, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until browned. Remove to paper towels to drain and season again with salt. Put the chicken pieces on a clean baking sheet and place in the warm oven while you cook the second batch. Serve topped with roasted tomatoes or tomato sauce, arugula salad or parsley, and shaved Parmesan.

Next Day Chicken Cutlet Sandwiches

The next day, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place cutlets on foil-lined baking sheet and bake until warm and crispy, about 5 to 10 minutes. Use the cutlets as the base for the sandwich, with soft rolls, toasted if you like, and whatever toppings and condiments you prefer.

For a classic sandwich, use lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayonnaise, but feel free to add or subtract anything else: avocado slices, guacamole, cheese, tartar sauce, pesto, honey mustard, shredded cabbage, spinach, coleslaw, fried eggplant, sautéed or raw onions, roasted peppers. The list is endless!

Wine Pairing suggestion

Cantina Tramin Pinot Grigio 2019. This northern Italian beauty is a breath of fresh mountain air! And it will enliven the chicken cutlets with a mouthwatering lemony crispness. Read more about this delicious wine from Alto Adige here.

Vietti Roero Arneis 2020. Another beautiful dry white wine from northern Italy. Read more about it in .