Okay, I am late to the party when it comes to this show but it can be enjoyed in its entirety on Netflix right now, which is where I found it. I love a good mystery and this show has more open questions per episode than most I have seen; which is a lot. The show is loosely based on the book series by Sara Shepard and I am tempted to read it as soon as I am done watching it.

The show centers on the four remaining friends of Alison DiLaurentis following her disappearance. One year later, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure named “A” and later from “A.D.”, who threatens to expose their darkest secrets. At first, they think it is Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls come to a realization that it is someone else who is sending threatening messages. This show keeps you wondering who “A” is and the whole story about what really happened to Alison.

There is not a lot of food in this show, and most of the food that is featured ranges from bland (prop salads) to disgusting (earthworm takeout).  However, I was able to find a few palatable dishes to think about and cook. In the  episode, “The Kahn Game”, Ashley Marin makes chicken parmesan, this seemed like a good place to start.

It is in this episode that Spencer and Aria find themelves at the Kahn brothers’ party in hopes of saving Spencer’s collegiate future. Meanwhile Hanna gets instructions from “A” to go to the Grille at closing. When she goes to leave her house, Ashley mentions that she intended to cook Hanna and herself some chicken parmesan. After Hanna bails to follow her instructions, Ashley calls Pastor Ted and invites him over for dinner.

The chicken parmesan is significant because I noticed in several instances in the show Ashley only cooks when it involves a man. We have seen her make breakfast for Detective Wilden, cook “Farewell Filets” with Hanna’s dad, and the rest of the time we see her getting takeout and drinking coffee; all the screen shots show an empty fridge. In this particular case she cooks for Pastor Ted. It is interesting that Ms. Marin uses food as part of her seduction ritual; it creates the idea that food is an equivalent indulgence to sex. Throughout the series we witness her living a cycle of denial (no man, no food) and indulgence (eating/sex).

To take this idea one step further, we witness Hanna not following in her mother’s footsteps and breaking from this cycle. We know Hanna had an eating disorder at the beginning of the show; she was also struggling in her sexual relationship with her boyfriend. She was wrestling with the habit of binging on food parallel to her trying to get her boyfriend to have sex with her; this is Hanna mimicking Ashley’s behavior. However, Hanna learns to have a normal connection with food at the same time she is starting her relationship with Caleb. Just as Hanna is able to grasp a normal perspective on food, she embarks on a normal, healthy sexual relationship with Caleb. Hanna breaks free of her mothers influence of indulging in food/sex and gains a healthy perspective on both.

To get back to the food, I have made chicken parmesan only a couple times before. It is something I remember turning out okay but nothing remarkable. I looked at my notes from my previous attempts (everyone takes notes when they cook right?), to figure out how to make it something worthy of a date night seduction.

A helpful suggestion for this dish is to flatten the chicken breasts. To do this, you want to place the chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap or in a large plastic bag. Use a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat tenderizer to get a uniform thickness. This will help your chicken cook quickly and evenly.  Chicken tenders would also be fine for this dish but you would have to adjust cooking times accordingly.

Once you have your chicken ready to go, you want to set up an assembly line with the flour, eggs mixed with water, and then the breadcrumb mixture. After the setup, just start working your chicken down the line and into the skillet. Once the chicken is cooked, top it with some cheese and let it get good and bubbly. Yum!

I realized that the secret to this dish is not in some magic ingredient, it’s power is totally in the presentation. I whipped up a little pasta to serve with the chicken and paired it with a nice green salad. My husband said it was the best meal he has had in a while! I wonder if Pastor Ted felt the same way?

Chicken Parmesan

olive oil for frying

1-2 pounds of chicken tenders or breast

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of flour

2 eggs, beaten with 1/4 cup of water

1 1/2 cups Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1Tbsp Italian Seasoning

Prepared Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1-2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350. Place a non stick sheet pan in the oven with a foil liner.
2. Heat 1/2 inch oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Beat eggs with water in a second dish. In a third dish, combine the remaining ingredients. Coat chicken in flour, egg, then breadcrumb and cheese mixture.
4. Add chicken to skillet and cook until deeply golden on each side, 5-6 minutes. Transfer to hot sheet pan and bake for another 10-12 minutes until fully cooked.
5. Dot chicken with some sauce. Top chicken with mozzarella and parmesan cheese and let melt or place under a broiler for a minute or so.