Want a tasty way to add nuts to a healthy and delicious chicken dish? Try this chef-approved recipe:
Ingredients:
8 chicken cutlets
1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into four pieces
1 shallot, minced
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, leaves removed
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
black pepper, to taste
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Process nuts in a food processor until they resemble coarse meal, about 20 one-second pulses. Heat butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat; cook, swirling pan constantly, until butter turns golden brown and has nutty aroma, 4 to 5 minutes. Add shallot and cook, stirring constantly, until just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, add panko and groundnuts; cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer panko mixture to a shallow dish or pie plate and stir in lemon zest, thyme, and cayenne.
Lightly beat eggs, mustard, and black pepper together in second shallow dish or pie plate.
Place flour in third shallow dish or pie plate.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Working with 1 piece at a time, dredge chicken breast in flour, shaking off excess, then coat with egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Coat all sides of chicken with panko mixture, pressing gently so that crumbs adhere. Transfer breaded chicken to clean wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and repeat with remaining chicken.
Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes.
Cut lemon into 4 wedges.
Let rest 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.
