Anonymous wrote:You need a non-stick pan.

No you don't. I do it all the time with stainless steel.

You have to use a lot of oil. The pieces should be floating and NOT touching the bottom of the pan. And for the love of cooking gods, DON'T use olive oil. Regular vegetable oil will do. Stick to flour, egg, breadcrumbs for the breaking. Don't crowd the pan.

Anonymous wrote:You need a non-stick pan.

Anonymous wrote:I recently discovered a great trick for baking/broiling breaded chicken ... cook it on a cooling rack (with baking pan underneath to catch crumbs). With this technique both sides cook and one is not mushy. Not sure why I never heard of this before. It works great.

Yes, to summarize:

Make sure the meat is dry -- dry off with paper towels if necessary.
Dip in flour, then egg, then flour/crumbs/nuts/whatever.
If you have time, place coated pieces on a rack and allow to dry out a bit. If you are really working ahead, put 'em in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
Make sure pan is hot enough to start.
Don't crowd the pan -- leave space between the pieces. Otherwise the food will start to steam rather than crisp.
DON'T MONKEY WITH IT. Leave the pieces alone -- don't move 'em, don't lift 'em up to check every 30 seconds, don't flip-flip-flip. They should cook completely on one side, then turn ONCE to cook on the other. Done. Depending on thickness and desired degree of doneness, most boneless slabs-o-protein need on average 3 to 5 minutes per side. When I'm cooking thin fish fillets, 2 minutes per side.