Cookbook Challenge

This month I decided to try something from my latest cookbook purchase (and according to JNS, my last)....Bon Appetit, Y'all (Virginia Willis) I bought this cookbook when I took a cooking class with Laura at The Cook's Warehouse. Students saved 10% that night on anything in the store - which was ridiculous because idiots like me think that sounds great (when in fact I only saved $2 - ha). Well, I've decided that the cookbook was a good purchase because after flipping through it, I saw so many recipes that sounded terrific! So more to come from this....but for today, I'm showing the Oven-Fried Chicken Breasts with Pecan Crust.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coarse salt

2 Tbl sugar

1 Tbl sweet Hungarian paprika

4 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

4 cups buttermilk

4-6 (8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup fresh or panko breadcrumbs

3.4 cup finely chopped pecans

2 Tbl canola oil

2 large eggs

2 Tbl Dijon mustard

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. Then set a large wire rack on the foil

Begin by brining the chicken - combine salt, sugar, paprika, garlic and bay leaves in large nonreactive container, add buttermilk and stir until salt is dissolved. Immerse the chicken and marinate at room temperate for 30 minutes (the book says any longer and the chicken will be too salty - I accidentally did it for almost two hours and it was fine...just rinse the chicken before you proceed)

Meanwhile, combine the breadcrumbs and pecans in a shallow dish. Add the oil and toss well to coat.

In a second shallow dish, combine the eggs, mustard and thyme. Season both mixtures with pepper. Working with one piece at a time, remove the chicken from the brine and shake off any excess liquid. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, coating both sides. Place the breasts in the breadcrumb mixture, sprinkle with crumbs to cover and press so the coating adheres. Turn the chicken over and repeat the process.

Place the coated breasts on the rack set on the baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear, 20-25 minutes.

The recipe says to serve with the Vidalia Honey Mustard Dressing recipe that is in the cookbook...I chose to serve it with creamed corn and green beans (no sauces). We thought it was really good - had a nice crisp to it, but no actual deep-frying!