Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Pecan-Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs, whisked
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 cups chopped pecans
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste and season chicken
1/2 cup canola oil for frying


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the chicken breasts in half cross-wise and season with salt & pepper.

In 3 separate containers, place the flour, whisked eggs + dijon mustard and chopped pecans.

Take one piece of seasoned chicken and dredge in the flour, dip into the whisked eggs and roll in the chopped pecans to coat. Repeat for all pieces of chicken.

In a hot skillet, heat the oil for frying on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, place the pecan crusted chicken pieces and fry until lightly golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Be careful not to let the chicken fry for too long, since it will burn the pecans. The frying step is to ensure the pecans adhere to the chicken, as it will finish cooking in the oven.

Once you have lightly fried the chicken, place on a lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place a piece of foil to cover until ready to serve.