You know how you find a recipe you love, make it over and over again, and then completely forget about it – for years, even? Then one day it pops back into your head. This happened to me recently when out of the blue, this Crispy Parmigiano Chicken blasted back from the past and begged for attention. I’m not sure why I stopped making it, but it probably fell away during my vegetarian days.

I first made this crowd-pleaser when I was a cook in a gourmet market in Newport, R.I., 30 years ago. (I was 12 years old at the time – ha, ha.) I made hundreds of crispy parmesan-and-breadcrumb-coated chicken breasts on full-sized sheet pans in the convection oven. Because the crumb coating kept the breast meat moist, they were good hot, room temperature, or cold – perfect for takeout. 

But I no longer have the written recipe I used back then, so this weekend I recreated a version of it – with generous amounts of Parmigiano in the coating. If you can get in the habit of keeping fresh breadcrumbs in your freezer, as well as Parmigiano and Dijon mustard in the fridge, Crispy Parmigiano Chicken can go right into rotation. No one will complain.

A simple salad and any green veg – say Blistered Chinese Restaurant-Style Green Beans or Crispy Broccoli Florets – would round out the dinner plate nicely.