Description
Looking for some snacky crunchy things to serve your guests? I've got holiday appetizers: phyllo cups five ways and you are going to love them.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 thin boneless breast of chicken cutlets (see note #1)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Canola oil for frying (enough to cover bottom of pan)
- Chopped parsley, optional garnish
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of small diced ham cubes (see note #2)
- 15 phyllo cups (one package)
The sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon finely diced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon finely diced garlic (1 small clove)
- 1 long slice of swiss cheese, ripped into pieces
- 1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 cup whole milk (you may only need 3/4 cup)
The dredging station
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 beaten eggs
- 3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion.
- Finely dice the garlic.
- Shred the fresh parmesan cheese. You can also use the shredded parmesan that comes in a bag.
- Take the long slice of swiss cheese and rip it into pieces. Set aside with the parmesan.
- Salt and pepper your thin sliced chicken breast on both sides. (see note#1 below about the chicken)
- Set up your dredging station with three different wide bowls. One bowl for the flour, salt, and garlic powder which you should whisk together. One for the beaten eggs. And a third bowl for the bread crumbs.
- Pour canola oil in a pan large enough to fry two chicken cutlets. The amount of oil depends on the size of the pan. The oil should be about ¼” deep, maybe a little more. Heat it on medium while you dredge the chicken.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the egg, the flour, the egg again and then the breadcrumbs. Be sure to coat thoroughly with each ingredient.
- Put your ham cubes in a small pan.
- Microwave the whole milk for one minute and have it ready for the bechamel.
- Put your phyllo cups on a small sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. We’re heating the cups alone for this one and we’ll add the hot ingredients to the cups when they come out of the oven.
- Time to multi-task! On your stove should be the following. One small pan with the ham cubes. One small sauce pot with the butter, onion and garlic. One large pan with heated canola oil.
- The ham cubes: I cooked on low-to-medium heat with no oil in the pan for a few minutes until they started getting sear marks.
- The chicken: fry the cutlets for three minutes on one side, then turn over and cook 2-3 minutes on the other side until golden brown. Then set aside on a plate.
- The sauce pan: melt the butter on low heat with the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the flour and whisk together. This makes a roux which is a thickening agent for sauces. Cook out the flour for a couple of minutes until it smells nutty. Turn the heat up a little, add the warm milk and stir – it will start to thicken quickly. Add the cheese and let melt – give a stir. Add a pinch of salt to taste and sample the sauce. If you need more salt – add it now. Remove sauce from heat. NOTE: if sauce is too thick add a little more milk. If it’s too thin, add more cheese. It’s simple – don’t overthink it. (see note #3 about extra sauce).
- Chop one and a half cutlets into small cubes. I cut it into thin strips first, then cut it into small cubes from there. My video shows this well. You will have extra chicken – eat it, you’re probably hungry.
- Your phyllo cups should be out of the oven and it’s time to assemble the appetizer.
- Add 3-4 chicken cubes to each phyllo cup. Spoon about ½ teaspoon of sauce over the chicken. Add a pinch of ham cubes to the top of each.
- Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with fresh parsley if you are using it.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- I used the already thin-cut chicken breast as the store. I found Purdue has the thinnest sliced. It was razor thin and this works best for this recipe. I cooked two cutlets but really only needed about 1 ½ for this recipe. You can either make more phyllo cups OR wrap it and eat it later. 😊 If you are using regular chicken breast and pounding it down yourself, you don’t want the chicken any thicker than ¼” – in fact, slightly thinner is better.
- I used a pre-packaged bag of tiny ham cubes which I loved. I froze what I didn’t use and saved them to make western omelets later.
- You will have extra bechamel. It’s cheese sauce – you’ll find a use for it. You can make my mega omelet and spoon the cheese sauce over the top. You can also freeze it and use it for something else another time.