Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Pecan Encrusted Chicken Breasts

This evening I made Pecan Encrusted Chicken Breasts for dinner. Thus far, I have coated and crusted chicken and fish with a variety of different nuts, cheeses, herbs and various combinations, but for some reason had not yet used pecans -- and I live in the south -- go figure!!! I just happened to stumble upon a bag of pecan meal at my local grocery store this past weekend and decided to give it a try. It turned out absolutely delicious. The pecan meal was somewhat coarsely ground and more like what you would expect a nut meal to be and not fine and powdery like the almond or coconut flour I typically use. I chose not to season the nut meal itself and instead seasoned the butter mixture I coated the chicken breast cutlets with and then lightly seasoned the cutlets as they cooked.

I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter in a small bowl in the microwave and then added 1 tablespoon of sugar free maple syrup (by Natures Hollow), a couple dashes of cayenne, a pinch of salt and black pepper and mixed it together. I brushed a thin coating of this mixture on both sides of about 5 chicken breast cutlets and then rolled them in the pecan meal. I cooked them on medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet in a tablespoon of butter and tablespoon of olive oil for several minutes on each side until lightly browned and then seasoned them with some sea salt, black pepper and a sprinkle of paprika. It was a quick and easy meal and I served it with the last of the Yellow Cheddar Squash Casserole and some green beans with almonds. I snapped a photo below for you to see. Enjoy!

BOOM!

8 comments:

Sami said...

Sounds interesting. I had never thought to coat meat or fish with nuts.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Sami -- you should try it -- it is very good. You can season or spice the chicken or the "nut coating" too. :-)

Kath said...

I've been meaning to try almond meal as a coating for chicken breasts. Yours looks fantastic, so I will definitely be trying it!

JG said...

Was wonderful. I fixed Chicken and Squash tonight. Had a problem with the nut coating burning. Was either the nuts or the olive oil/butter. End result was the same - smoking and blackened. Cooked it on Med. and alittle hotter than that.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks, Kath -- be careful not to cook it too long on high heat (or your nut coating might burn). The best way not to have to cook the chicken too long is to either use chicken cutlets or flatten boneless chicken breasts with a meat mallet to about 1/4" or so in thickness -- that way they cook quickly. I hope you enjoy it!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi JG -- Sorry you had trouble with it burning -- it's a fine line between hot enough and too hot. You want the pan/oil hot when you place the chicken in the pan but you may need to turn it back down to medium to cook. Also, make sure you are using thinner cutlets or flattened chicken breasts so your cooking time isn't too long and that way your chicken gets cooked before you nut coating gets overcooked. Did you use pecans for your nut coating? Also, if your stove heats a little hotter, you might want to cut the heat back a little more once you place the chicken in the pan. Also, I used 1 T of butter and 1 T of olive oil -- but I used extra light olive oil when I fry or saute at higher heat -- not the extra virgin which is more heat sensitive and doesn't do as well at higher temps. Hope those suggestions help you out next time you make it! :-) I hope you enjoyed the squash casserole! Thanks!

SkinnyMommy said...

Boom is right! Those look easy and delicious!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

LOL...thanks SkinnyMommy! :-)