Home-made Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

   Do you have those kind of days when you seem to get tired of the regular stuff on the freezer but can't spare time to run to the market and plan a great meal for the family.   Today is one fine example, it's already 10 am and all I have in the freezer are frozen hotdogs, some slices of parma ham, and three big cuts of chicken breasts.   My kids have been raving for more of the chicken nuggets we had a couple of days ago.   Good thing I had a list of well preserved recipes in my computer files that I can easily pull out for a new take from the usual dishes.
   Even though, my family are used to eating the usual fare, its good that we tweak or reinvent even some old dishes.   Now what used to be my dilemma for the day turned out to be something new that I could try which    I know will be added to our regulars.
   This is easy to do (which I made sure of that) and needs less ingredients.
Inspired from epicurious.com's  Parmesan Chicken Nuggets, I made one change from its original list of ingredients.   Since I needed to rely on what I have in my kitchen.  I need to think of something fast.  The original recipe called for Panko, a Japanese breadcrumb mix used for coating meat.   I thought I still have some, but when I checked I realized that I don't have it anymore.   Since it is only to coat and give that crusty edge to the fried chicken nuggets, I thought of using instant oatmeal in replace of it.   To give it more taste, I added ground crackers (Sky Flakes) to oatmeal, Parmesan coating mix.
   Well, it was a success!  Turned out that the oatmeal and cracker mix is more crunchy without the "umay" factor you get from using plain flour mix.   Especially, the oil didn't settle on the crust.  Just make sure to thinly slice the meat, and make sure the oil is hot enough to cook even the inside of the nuggets.

Home-made Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) or
    3/4 cup of instant oatmeal and 3/4 cup of crushed soda crackers
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon mustard powder
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
4 small skinless, boneless chicken cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total), pounded to 1/4" thickness
8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon, halved

Procedure:

Place flour in a shallow bowl. Beat eggs in a second shallow bowl. Combine panko, Parmesan, and mustard powder in a third shallow bowl and season mixture with salt and pepper.
Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, shaking off any excess. Transfer to bowl with beaten egg and turn to coat. Lift from bowl, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Coat with panko mixture, pressing to adhere.

DO AHEAD: Chicken can be breaded 1 month in advance. Place between pieces of freezer paper or waxed paper and freeze in resealable freezer bags. Thaw before continuing.

Heat 6 tablespoons oil in a large heavy skillet or a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, cook cutlets, adding remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan between batches, until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer cutlets to a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt. Serve with lemon.

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