Here at Parma Daze I like to think we have our social media bases covered. We've got a Facebook, a Twitter, a Pinterest, an Instagram, a YouTube channel and a tinder. Wait. Scratch that last one.
"But PD!" I hear you saying "I still don't feel connected enough to your site and all of your parmish escapades!"
Well, dear reader, I have you covered, as this week marked the launch of the Chicken Parma Subreddit. An open forum on Reddit, the self proclaimed "front page of the internet" where you can go and talk parmas. It isn't Parma Daze specific at all, so feel free to check it out and contribute! My hope is for it to become a hub of conversation on all things parmigiana. Recommendations, tips on good parma deals, the works.
Not long after launching the sub a user by the name of Stinx2001 posted something that caught my eye...
You can have a look at the original post by clicking this link, but here is a bigger version of the image in that thumbnail...
Bacon AND tater tots?
The post quickly shot up to the top of the subreddit, There was no question, I needed this parma inside of me.
Luckily Stinx2001 was kind enough to post his recipe in the comments -
I visited the supermarket, got stocked up on supplies and hit the kitchen.
As with all "Cooking with Parma Daze" posts, this is gonna be very photo-heavy, so prepare thy bandwidth (although If you've read this far the pictures have probably already loaded. Oh well!)
Now a couple of parma-specific products have appeared in the supermarket lately, so what better time to give them a go?
I was scared of that Chicken Tonight parmigiana cooking sauce - it looked too orange to be good on a parma.
But, as per the recipe the Wife was out for the night, so I got to cooking. (cue lots of photos...)
1. Cook potato gems in oven as per packet -
Check.
2. Flatten two chicken breasts, bread/crumb, cook in frying pan with butter and oil
Check.
Check.
3. Cook bacon
Check.
4. Once cooked, place Napoli (ideally home made, mine was from a jar), cooked bacon, and potato gems on top of chicken
Check.
Checkitty.
Check Check Check.
5. Add a stupid amount of different cheeses on top (I just had the one coon "parma blend", but I did use a stupid amount, a.k.a the whole packet)
Check.
6. Place under grill until cheese is at your preferred meltedness.
Check! (lost a bit of the stupid amount of cheese on the bottom of the pan, not to worry though, plenty survived)
All done! I plated it up...
It looked good. Out of all the home made parmas I've done for the site this is one that I've looked forward to tucking into the most. There were some extra tater tots, So I just used them as a side (I've mentioned it before, but tater tots go really well as a side to a parma!)
Verdict? It was awesome. The bacon, the cheese, the potato ... it all married together perfectly! If they have yet to award this years MacArthur Genius Grant then my vote is for Stinx2001 - lets throw the Nobel Peace Prize to him as well, he deserves it.
As for the parma-specific products used? The Coon parma cheese was great. It was grated finely, soft, and melted up perfectly. I should have left it a few more minutes in the grill to get it a little more golden brown on top, but I just couldn't wait that long - I'd definitely give it another go.
The Chicken Tonight napoli? Meh. It was okay, but the orange colour was very off-putting. It did its job and I can't really complain, but at no time did it stand out at all (although to be fair there were quite a few distractions on this particular parma). I've still got 90% of the jar left in my fridge, to be honest I'll probably end up tipping it on pasta after getting home from the pub on Sunday morning - and it'll probably work quite well.
Massive thanks to Stinx2001 for the recipe. You're my hero.
I'm calling this one an unmitigated success! If you want to stay up to date with awesome user-submitted discoveries like this be sure to have a gander at the new Chicken Parma Subreddit, and if you've got your own technique for a homemade parma, why not post it over there yourself!
I look forward to watching this community grow, I think its got a lot of potential and have high hopes for the future!