Amy's Pecan Chicken

Meet Amy.... she's the genius behind Tuesday night's chicken!




We grew up in the same tiny little town. Our families used to get together for Saturday dinners. Amy and I were the oldest girls. We teased our little sisters, hung sheet tents from our clothes lines, caught fireflies in glass jars, had a club with all of our dogs and cats as mascots, and played with our dolls. We had original cabbage patch dolls.. the ones with cloth faces.



Then we went drifted in middle school. Amy's a year older, so she left me behind as she headed to Jr. High. Somewhere in our junior and senior years of high school we became close friends again. Shared in our teenage struggles, anxieties, and joys. Then we went to different colleges, in different states, but we stayed in touch with a newly emerging technology called e-mail (boy, do I feel old Amy!), we also wrote letters back then.




Amy got married after college. Moved away from our small town. But we somehow were able to maintain our friendship. I'm so glad. Amy is one of the most down to earth people I know. Has an outrageous since of humor... knows how to quilt and sew, but she's rather be building something... or decorating. The girl can decorate! I am always in awe of this talent because I absolutely don't have it.



Amy is an amazing mom and wife and she's one heck of a good cook! She rarely shares recipes with me and so I knew when she sent me her recipe for pecan chicken it had to be really good!



And it IS folks! This is some tasty (and easy) chicken! Michael had seconds, and the boy doesn't have seconds unless he hasn't eaten for three days, or the food is really, REALLY good. And I knew darn well he had eaten for three days, so this stuff must be incredibly delicious!! This recipe is reminiscent of Abby's Honey Pecan Chicken Thighs, which I'm still aiming to make one week.



Next time I'll have to take better pictures! (Thanks to Natalie, I'm learning a bit more about photography!) So just bear with me! These pictures do not depict how good this chicken was! Just trust me on this one! Once you start making this chicken, you'll be making it all the time!








Amy's Pecan Chicken

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 2 lbs. chicken tenders

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. pepper

• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup cornmeal or gluten-free breadcrumbs

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil

• Honey for drizzling (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat chicken dry. In a wide flat-bottomed dish mix pecans, cornmeal or GF breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Pour milk in a separate wide, flat-bottomed dish. In a large oven proof skillet (Your great-grandma's will work best!), heat olive oil to HOT, but not smoking. Dip chicken in milk then dredge in pecan cornmeal/GF breadcrumb mixture, and place in skillet. Using tongs, carefully flip chicken to brown on both sides (about 4 minutes per side). Transfer skillet to preheated oven and bake until juices from chicken run clear (about 8 minutes). Let chicken rest for approximately 10 minutes before serving. Michael and I drizzled about 2 Tbsp. of honey over the chicken as soon as we pulled it from the oven. We served this with lemony broccolini and sweet brown rice.

(We had more chicken than pecan mixture, so I made some chicken with just a cornmeal coating.
It was also delicious!)

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SOOOOO.... my friends at work have told me that the mystery picture was definitely a COMPLETE mystery and they are clueless... SO I will give you an additional hint in the form of another picture:

And one more embarrassingly easy hint:
You most likely own a LOT of this....





Hopefully I haven't made it TOO easy!! If you've mustered up a good guess as to what this is, OR even if you have a lame guess... just guess folks!! ... you can get all the details here to enter the contest!! I need some entries people or I'll be giving this cookbook away to my husband and he sure won't use it!!






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Check back this weekend for John's Pumpkin Lasagna