Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken (NYR- YYYYY)

¼ c. low-fat buttermilk (I used low fat sour cream)
2 T. Dijon mustard
4 (6 ounce) chicken cutlets
1/3 c. panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1/3 c. finely chopped walnuts
2 T. grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
¾ tsp minced fresh rosemary
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray (I used olive oil spray)
Rosemary leaves (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425º.

2. Combine buttermilk (sour cream) and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Add chicken to mixture, turning to coat.

3. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add panko to pan, cook about 3 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Combine panko, nuts, and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture; discard any remaining mixture. Dredge chicken in panko mixture.

4. Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on rack; coat check with cooking spray. Bake at 425º for 13 - 18 minutes or until chicken is done. Garnish with rosemary leaves, if desired. Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 cutlet).


I finally got to look at my June 2010 Cooking Light Magazine this week. I saw this recipe and was pretty sure I had everything needed for the recipe, so decided to give it a try. (I was especially excited to have to use some of the rosemary growing out on our patio!) Well, as it turned out, when I went to make it, I discovered I did not have any buttermilk, so figured I'd give low fat sour cream a try and that worked just fine! I also had to flatten my thawed chicken breasts to cutlets, by pounding with my small iron skillet - that was kind of fun. In the magazine this was served over a "Toasted Garlic Escarole" salad. I was going to try that using romaine instead of escarole, but found I had no garlic. So I served it atop romaine salad greens dressed with Ken's Steakhouse Lite Caesar dressing into which I had mixed a little minced rosemary, some grated parmesan cheese and toasted walnuts. Gary and I thought this combination was a definite winner.

I'll go ahead and give you the Toasted Garlic Escarole recipe, even though I haven't tried it.

Toasted Garlic Escarole: Cut a 1½-pound escarole head crosswise into 1-inch strips; place in a large bowl. Heat 1 ½ T. olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until golden. Remove from heat; add 1 ½ T. fresh lemon juice, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle dressing over escarole and toss to coat.

And in case you've forgotten, or haven't looked at any other recipes on my blog: NYR means New Year's Resolution and YYYYY is the highest Yummy rating I assign to new recipes I try.