Pecan Crusted Chicken

Have never made this before and in the process as we speak so can't say whether this is going to be a winner or not. But I like chicken and I like pecans and I like panko breading so by all accounts I should like this recipe! It looks like it's a pretty simple straightforward recipe as well which is perfect for a busy Saturday afternoon!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ground pecans
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs - you can use regular bread cumbs but it's worth looking for Japanese style panko bread crumbs, they give a much crunchier crust
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter (1/4 cup) you can use salted but if you do make SURE your chicken broth is no salt added
• 1/4 cup shallots
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup home made chicken stock or no salt bought variety
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Grind up your pecans in a magic bullet or small blender to a fine powder. Mine were more pasty when done than powdery but I am presuming that's ok.

Mix panko and pecans in dish.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Remove skillet from heat; brush some of melted butter onto chicken, then coat chicken in panko mixture. I was generous and tried to use all the breading ... didn't quite succeed and lots fell off while doing the initial frying ... tried not to mess with the chicken too much.

Place skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and sauté until brown on bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn chicken over.and immediately place in preheated oven cooked side up. Bake until chicken is cooked through, about 18 minutes ( I left mine in for 30 minutes). Transfer chicken to platter.

Using slotted spoon, remove any crumbs from skillet. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter( I actually did not add any more butter at this point. I just sauteed in what was there after I spooned away the extra crumbs), garlic and shallots (onions); sauté over medium-high heat 1 minute. Add broth and simmer until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Mix in parsley. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper; drizzle over chicken

Final thoughts ... while this was good, the high fat content almost makes me want to say don't bother ... if you can figure out how to make this without so much butter and with only half the breading it might be worth a try. This is definitely a recipe that needs some tweeking, as written, it doesn't pass the grade. It was low in sodium and a good source of fiber and the taste is good, quite good in fact but the greasy mushy coating (most of which fell off) wasn't what I was hoping for with this and for all those calories it should be something I go WOW over and it wasn't. Sauce was only so so.