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Get your ingredients ready to go!
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Put the butter somewhere to soften, like a sunny window.
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Prep your cheese by shredding it or grating it.
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If you use a container cheese like Kraft, get that out.
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Place 1/2 a cup of white wine in a 1 cup (like the measuring cup from Pyrex.
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).
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Get a ramekin/small bowl and mince 4-5 cloves of garlic into it.
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Add a teaspoon of lemon juice for every clove added.
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Set this off to the side with the white wine.
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Now prep your breading station.
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Get two bowls out.
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Beat 2-3 eggs vigorously in one bowl.
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In the other, combine your bread crumbs with the salt and pepper.
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Fill your pasta pot full of water, put it on a back burner, and turn the heat on and don't salt the water until you're ready to throw the pasta in the pot.
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Get your largest frying pan and add the oil.
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Don't turn on the heat yet.
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Now that everything is ready, you can prep the chicken while minimizing the risk of cross contamination.
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I am fed up with cutting chicken with a knife for this recipe.
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I just use some good kitchen-quality scissors.
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Cut away any discolored, fatty or bloody pieces.
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Then cut the chicken in 1/2 inch strips.
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Uniformity is important, so try to make the pieces the same size for even cooking.
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Breading: Put a handful of the raw chicken strips/pieces into the egg.
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Take a couple of pieces out and roll them in your bread crumb mixture.
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Set them on some wax paper or better still, one of those thin and flexible cutting sheets.
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Do this until all the chicken is evenly breaded and ready for frying.
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Turn on the oil to 7 (on a scale from 1-9.)
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I find that Hi-Medium is the perfect temperature for this.
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Salt the almost boiling pasta water with about 2-3 tablespoons kosher salt.
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Right after, put your colander/strainer in the sink so it's there when you need it.
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The hardest parts are done!
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But before you put one piece of chicken in that oil, make sure you have a place to put it once it is done.
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I learned from Alton Brown to avoid setting fried chicken on a paper towel to blot away the excess oil.
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Instead, line the counter with a few paper towels and place a cooling rack on top of the towels to allow the fat to drip off.
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Your chicken will be much less greasy as a result.
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Check the oil to see if it sizzles by throwing a drop of water on it.
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When it's sizzling, add a single layer of the breaded chicken pieces.
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They should sizzle on contact.
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The original recipe says to cook the meat for 30 seconds on both sides, but my experience has been roughly 3 minutes per side.
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Just use your best judgment and avoid undercooking any of the chicken.
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All it takes is one piece of undercooked chicken to ruin the whole night.
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Use some tongs to help yourself turn the chicken.
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Place the cooked pieces on the cooling rack.
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Put your pasta in the water once it's boiling and set your timer.
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Once all of the chicken is one the cooling rack, reduce the heat from 7 to 3 or 4.
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Take a bunch of paper towels and sweep/wipe the pan clean quickly with some paper towels over the garbage can.
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The pan is still super hot, so be careful.
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Put the pan right back on the burner.
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Add a ladle or two of the starchy pasta water to the cup you set aside with white wine in it.
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The pan might be smoking a bit, but it will stop when you add the wine and water and the liquid will turn a brown color.
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This is deglazing the pan and it adds a lot of flavor.
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If you are the type that thinks everything is flavorless and dull, throw half a bouillon cube into the pan and allow it to dissolve.
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Add the stick of butter to the frying pan.
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After it's all dissolved and clear, add the lemon and garlic to the wine and butter sauce.
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Once the pasta is the tenderness you prefer, turn off the burner, strain the pasta quickly in the colander and return it to the pot with 2 tablespoons of butter.
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You can turn up the heat a bit to aid melting.
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I like to add a bunch of Parmesan here, like a cup of it.
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This is a matter of your taste.
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If you typically don't like a lot of cheese on your pasta, wait until dinner is on the table and use it as needed.
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Add the chicken back to the frying pan with the sauce.
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Mix well, and be careful not to over cook the chicken.
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Add the chicken to the pot with the butter and noodles and mix gently.
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Dinner is done.
