Double Take: Pecan and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken

Tabitha and I have had great fun cooking together again. Occasionally Bender will join us to enjoy the meal, but mostly we enjoy cooking things he doesn’t find interesting. In an effort to include him in some of our fun, every once in a while I’ll pick something I’m certain he’ll like, and we’ll make it at our place. That’s exactly how this dish ended up on our menu!

Pecan and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken

adapted Culinary in the Country, originally from CookingLight

serves 3-6, depending on how much chicken you want

Ingredients:
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied so you have 6 pieces
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
4 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 ½  teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
salt and fresh ground black pepper

cooking spray (olive oil or vegetable oil)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a shallow dish, whisk together buttermilk and mustard. Add chicken, turning to coat all sides. Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes.
3. Place panko into another shallow dish and stir in nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano and rosemary - season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture, discarding any excess liquid left behind. Dredge chicken in panko mixture to coat both sides. Place chicken onto a wire baking rack, coated with cooking spray and set over a large baking sheet. (Don’t want to put your wire baking rack in the oven? Just use a normal 9x13” dish. The bottom of the chicken won’t be crispy, but that’s not the end of the world.) Lightly spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray. 
5. Place into the oven and bake until the chicken is done, about 20-25 minutes.

THOUGHTS:

While not very different from any other oven fried chicken dish, it is still quite tasty. The crunchy pecans and panko work very well with the bright, fresh taste of rosemary. I’m not convinced the flavor of the mustard came through, so I might up the amount to 3 tablespoons in the future. The original recipe calls for walnuts, so if that is your favorite nut, go for that one over the pecans. Tabitha and I definitely prefer pecans.

This recipe also feels quite changeable. Feel free to play with the herbs, and if you need to substitute dry for fresh, just reduce the amount by half. I think an Italian seasoning blend would be great here, or even just oregano. You can play with the cheeses as well. I recommend a Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago blend, but you could even use gruyere and swap basil from rosemary. The possibilities are endless!

Oh, and this entree definitely passed the Bender test :)

VERDICT:

It’s-simple-quick-and-tasty: 1 vote!

You-can-make-this-again: 1 vote!

For Tabitha's take on Pecan and Rosemary Chicken, head on over to Double the Garlic!