Buttermilk Pecan Chicken Cutlets for Magazine Monday

Fork tender...and healthy too!



Here is a quick meal that has healthy ingredients and won't break the budget. In this crappy economy you have to shop with an eye for bargains. The chicken cutlets were on sale at our local markets for $3.99 a pound. The other ingredients I had in the pantry and fridge....easy!

You'll need the following:

1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 large cutlets
1/3 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (The recipe called for walnuts- I had pecans)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Note on Buttermilk: (I didn't need a large bottle of buttermilk at this time so I just poured regular milk, let it sit at room temperature for a half hour and added a few teaspoons of white vinegar. There you have it, buttermilk)

Preheat your oven to 425 F (218 C).

Combine buttermilk and mustard in shallow dish. Whisk and mix. Add chicken to buttermilk mixture, turning to coat.

Heat small skillet over medium heat, add Panko and cook 3 minutes. Stir it a bit while it's toasting in the pan. Now add the nuts and next four ingredients. The Panko will pop, kinda like popcorn, as it heats in the pan so...be careful.
Now dredge your soaked cutlets through the Panko mixture.

Do you see how the fried breading adheres to the cutlet? Saturated in mustard and buttermilk the panko-pecan-Parmesan breading sticks beautifully. Now it's ready for a quick bake. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes.



I served with sticky white rice, fresh from the rice maker. The cutlets were quite tender, I managed to cut them using only a fork.



If you don't have a rice maker I would recommend purchasing one. When the idea was presented about purchasing a rice maker I thought, what a waste of space on the counter. It is, in fact, one of my much loved appliances. It frees up my burners of the stove, I can start the rice and not have that chore to attend to, no stirring......and it makes that great sticky rice that you get in Chinese restaurants. Something I could never achieve when I made rice on the stove top. And it also steams foods - vegetables, chicken, whatever. (And it stores easily under a counter when not in use)

Hmmm..rereading that last paragraph makes it sound like I receive income from the sale of rice makers - I wish!

Our Japanese dogs very much like little contraption...Spoiled....



No need to think about whether this one is a keeper. Oh yes! It was easy to make, healthy ingredients and quick to get on the table. From the June 1010 issue of Cooking Light.



I will be sending this to the lovely Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice for her Magazine Monday series. Please surf over and visit, see what else has been submitted.