Pecan Crusted Chicken Ala Bo With Mac & Cheese

Several years ago this really nice gourmet grocery store came to Vonore, Tn but it was way to upscale for the local clientele and only lasted a few years – we hated that. They had a nice little butcher shop and frequently offered pecan crusted chicken which we bought once for our only time. We enjoyed it a lot and have often discussed making it so when Bo’s recent post showed up, it became an immediate must cook – check his site for the recipe.

He sided his with an orzo dish but Bev and I wanted mac & cheese – our first in a long time. For it, Bev took the following Ina Garten recipe and used it for the roux recipe and the cheese to pasta recipe.

Ingredients:
•Kosher salt
•Vegetable oil
•1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
•1 quart milk
•8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
•1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
•8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
•1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

She omitted the nutmeg and tomatoes and used some bread crumbs we had leftover that were laced with Emeril’s Essence. Then she used the cheese’s we had on hand – Velveeta, cheddar, smoked gouda and manchego – it’s just mac & cheese after all and almost everything works. In this case it worked very well but no way she could make the exact same dish again. This is one of the two dishes she made.

Old habits die hard - as I got ready to cook the chicken I put the butter and oil in the pan and turned on the burner – oops. I poured the oil/butter into a bowl, washed the pan and started over using the proper pan heating technique. Here are a couple of shots of the cooking process.

We decided to have a fat attack and ate no greenery. This is my plate.

First the chicken was delicious and is a save for having again and as a company recipe, except we might up the amount of pecans. The mac and cheese was also delicious and the addition of the Gouda gave it a slight smokiness that I really liked. Then Bev had seen a dessert recipe she just had to make. Chocolate Decadence Mini’s from King Arthur Flour.

They were good but not blow me away delicious. More nuts inside, topped with whipped cream and a couple of berries and they would probably be outstanding. All-in-all, a very good meal and thanks to Bo for the recipe.

If you missed it, please check out the blogger party invite.

I read on the Weather channel yesterday tha Knoxville, Tn is the worst city in America for allergies and Chattanooga is fifth worst.  I live between the two, in the same valley and proximaty to the mountains - no wonder my nose runs all of the time.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

One year ago: Pets and Stuff

Larry