Pecan Chicken and a stick

I tried a new recipe last night, and it turned out so well, I thought I would share it. I had thawed out some chicken, but wasn't quite sure which pathway I wanted to walk down with my chicken. Put some Italian dressing on it? Some Parmesan cheese? For some reason, I remembered seeing a recipe for Pecan Chicken, and I knew I had some pecans in the freezer, so I found this on AllRecipes. I changed it from serving four to serving two, so adjust accordingly. I'll also tell you what I did differently.

 

 

Pecan Chicken

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I flattened them to ½ inch with my meat mallet)

1 tablespoon real maple syrup (I probably used a couple...I didn't measure!)

½ cup chopped pecans

a couple of tablespoons of flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter (I used a couple--the coating really soaked it up)

a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil (I omitted this...butter tastes better!)

 

In a shallow bowl, combine pecans, flour, and salt. Brush chicken breasts all over with maple syrup, and coat completely in pecan mixture. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add chicken, and cook until browned on both sides and no longer pink. (I'd say this took 10 minutes, tops, and I covered them for a few of those minutes to get them cooked through.)

 

I flattened the chicken because I love it  that way--it makes it really tender. (And as I always mention, I love using a meat mallet! I get to use it again tonight for some Pork Tenderloin Diane.) This was really yummy. The maple syrup and pecans add just a touch of sweetness to it, but it's not overpowering. The coating had a little crunch to it. It was a tiny bit rich, and cooking it in butter added to that, so I couldn't eat all of mine, plus the sides--Ken can eat the rest for lunch tomorrow. I served it with green beans and some Parmesan rice. Ken liked it, and when I said I thought it's one I would make again, he agreed.

 

If you try it, let me know what you think.

 

What do you think of my stick?

 

You can stop laughing at any point.

 

Really.

 

Okay, Ken laughed, too, when I showed him my stick. I was walking back from getting the mail one day, and glanced down and saw this stick half-buried in the driveway. Something about the pattern on it where the bark had worn off just struck me. It looks so intriguing!

 

So I picked it out of the driveway, and I've been working on it for a couple of weeks: leaving it out in the sun and rain, and picking off the rest of the bark, so that you can see the pattern all over. It seems to be nicely bleached now, especially on the side shown here.

 

I don't know why I like my stick so much...but I'm saving it. I'm going to put it in the curio cabinet. I think it looks kind of neat, and I love the strange pattern. I don't know what kind of tree it's from, but if I had to guess, I would guess cottonwood. We have a bunch of them, and they drop branches like crazy.

 

I think my stick rocks, and I don't care if no one else likes it. I think it's unusual. Like I said yesterday, joy is where you find it!

 

 

Tags: Pecan Chicken