I need to learn how to be creative when naming recipes I come up with.

Is there like, a class for that or something? Some things already have names, even though you can make them differently and customize them (like steak and cheese or certain kinds of cookies), but there are some dishes that need a new name. Dishes that are created by just throwing a bunch of stuff together, and having it come out great, thus deserving a great name. Something I am terrible at. Anyway, this dinner came out of me having a couple chicken breasts in the fridge and not knowing what to do with them. Also, stale bread. I hate when it gets so stale that it's practically inedible and you either have to find a use for it or throw it out.

Semi Chicken Parmesan (that's a temporary name, because frankly, it's awful)

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• stale bread, about 4 slices, depending on the type of bread (or pre-made breadcrumbs)
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• about 1/2 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• pasta of your choice (I used penne)
• tomato sauce
• roughly 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• fresh basil (optional; to garnish)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Take your stale bread and smash it up into crumbs (I put the bread in a ziploc bag and then repeatedly bashed it with a rolling pin until it resembled crumbs of a reasonable size). Place crumbs in bowl. Add flour to bowl, then add about 3/4 of the basil and oregano. Mix until combined. Take your eggs and scramble them up with a fork in another bowl to make an eggwash. Salt and pepper your chicken breasts, then dip them in the eggwash, followed by the breadcrumb mixture and transfer to a greased skillet. Add the rest of the dried spices to the chicken while searing. Cook just enough so that the outside of the chicken is browned and none of it is pink. Transfer chicken to a sheet pan and sprinkle a bit of mozzarella on top.

Place in oven for about 20-25 minutes.

While the chicken is finishing off in the oven, bring some water to a boil. Follow the instructions on your pasta, then drain and coat in about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Plate your pasta, adding as much sauce as you would like. When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and let it sit for about five minutes so it retains its juices. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and stir into the plated pasta. Cover with more mozzarella cheese, then place back in the oven for about 5-8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Remove plates from oven (remember that they're hot and don't burn yourself accidentally like I did) and garnish with fresh basil.

Faux Chicken Parmesan

This isn’t exactly traditional chicken parmigiana, more of my own makeshift version. I tend to like the taste of the chicken more when it’s not breaded (and being so hungry at the time, I didn’t feel like digging around for breadcrumbs). Also, next time I make this pan sauce, I think I’d leave out the cherry tomatoes. They didn’t really add anything. Leaving them whole just made them hard to eat and they got all over the place (I didn’t cook them enough before putting the crushed tomatoes in the pan). I like the sweet taste, so if I had crushed them beforehand, it might have been better, but I think just the crushed tomatoes is fine.

Faux Chicken Parmesan

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp dry oregano (or 3 tsp fresh)
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• about 4 oz mozzarella cheese
• chopped parsley for garnish

For the homemade tomato pan sauce:

• 2 Tbsp of previously made butter mixture 
• half of a 12oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, garlic, oregano, and paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside. Preheat oven to 400* F. Season both sides of chicken breast with salt and pepper. Put the flour onto a plate and then, working with one breast at a time, press both sides into the flour. Shake until excess flour is removed and repeat with each remaining chicken breast.

Melt 2 tbsp of the butter mixture with the olive oil into a heavy skillet on high heat. Reduce to medium high when butter stops foaming. Add chicken breasts and sauté until browned on one side, about 5-7 minutes (depending on how large the chicken breast is). Flip and continue cooking another 3-4 minutes. Once chicken is cooked, transfer to an oven safe dish (I used a casserole dish), prepared with a very thin layer of crushed tomatoes and a small amount of butter mixture (less than 1/8 of a tbsp). Lay the chicken on top of the tomatoes and add mozzarella cheese on top. Place into the oven while the tomato sauce is prepared.

To prepare pan sauce: Add the 2 remaining tbsp of the previously made butter mixture to the pan you just used to sauté your chicken. Once butter is melted, add 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes and cook until the skins of the tomatoes have the appearance of wrinkled paper. Add 1/2 a 12oz can of crushed tomatoes and stir. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste, and mix until the crushed tomatoes and butter have completely blended (the tomatoes should be a darker red than they started out). Keep mixing the sauce until it comes to a simmer.

Serve chicken with pan sauce, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and a garnish of chopped parsley.