Sunday, February 17, 2013

Pecan Crusted Chicken Fingers

Before we ran our errands this afternoon...I marinated some boneless chicken breasts in buttermilk that I seasoned with spices.  I cut about 1-1/2 lbs. of boneless chicken breasts into "fingers" and placed them in a Ziploc bag to marinate in 1 cup of buttermilk mixed with 1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika (similar to cayenne), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.  After marinating the chicken for about 5 hours, I made the pecan coating mixture.  I mixed 2 cups of ground pecans, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, some sea salt and black pepper in a shallow bowl and rolled each of the buttermilk coated chicken fingers in the nut mixture and placed them on a lightly oiled baking sheet and baked them at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  They turned out tasty and a bit spicy!  The pecan coating didn't get too crispy in the oven, but it really gave the chicken a good flavor and they stayed very moist from the buttermilk marinade.  I served them with some lightly steamed and stir fried french green beans with fresh garlic and red pepper flakes.  I also made a quick little "avocado salsa" by dicing an avocado and tossing it was a tablespoon of salsa and a tiny dollop of sour cream and served it in the halved out avocado shells.  It was so simple and fresh tasting.  Below is a picture for you to see.  Enjoy!

BOOM!

8 comments:

Nancy said...

the salsa with the avocado and sour cream YUM!,love the presentation,trying this tomorrow ! thanks!!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

You are welcome Nancy! I hope you enjoy it -- it is so simple and so good! :-)

Anonymous said...

I love love your site! I am on day 13 of no wheat and sugar and your recipes have been a lifesaver. Thank you so much.
Vickie

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks so much Vickie! Congrats on 13 days so far! I hope you continue to find recipes and ideas to help keep you going and enjoying! :-)

Roye said...

Looks really good, do you ground your own nuts? May I ask how? When I see ground walnuts or pecans I'm not real sure what they're talking about, how fine?

I agree with Vickie, you've been a lifesaver for me as well. Even though I haven't been losing much lately :(.

Thank you for all you do.

Roye

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Roye -- I did not grind my own pecans -- I bought them and I would describe them as being similar in texture to bread crumbs (like you buy in a can) -- slightly coarse. I know people do grind their own by pulsing in a food processor or Magic Bullet. I think you need to be careful not to overdo it or it becomes "nut butter". You could always try a very small batch -- I think it would be better to have a few larger pieces in your ground nuts when using them as breading than to over grind and end up with butter -- although you could add a little salt and eat that too if a "woops" should happen! I found these ground pecans in my Publix grocery store in the produce section where they have random items (they weren't in the baking section with the other nuts). You can probably order it online too from either Amazon or nuts.com Hope that helps! :-)

Paula in the UP said...

I was wondering if something could be subbed for the pecans? I'm allergic to them, so maybe almonds?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Paula -- yes, almonds could easily be substituted -- you could mix it with grated Parmesan too for more flavor if you wanted to. :-)