Glazed Pecans

My sister-in-law had us over for dinner some time ago. She served salad with the entree. And I don't know if it was because I was hungry or not, but that salad was the best salad I had ever had! Come to think of it, I now know that it was more than about being hungry. I've had the salad many times since then. We joke that I like the salad so much because of all the "candy" in it.

In her salad is mixed greens, a diced apple, a handful dried cranberries and a handful glazed pecans. She serves it with honey mustard dressing. I started serving this during dinner so often that the cost glazed pecans was driving me into the poor house. I decided to start making my own and I went out and purchased a huge 2 pound bag of pecans from Costco. If you've been reading my blog every once in a while, you'll see this salad on a few of my dinner plates...most recently on my January 18th entry of Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders. I substituted pears for apples that night.

So feeling like I was spending all of my money on pecans instead of saving for retirement, I did an internet search and found a recipe from Pillsbury. I've made four batches of glazed pecans and I thought it was time to share this tasty treat. I need to mention that they are so yummy that you might want to sprinkle them over ice cream or just eat them out of the airtight container that you store them in. It's all natural and kind of "healthy" dessert or snack. At least it is until you glaze them! They would make a nice little hostess gift during the holidays.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons organic butter

2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

2 cups pecan halves (6-7 oz) <--8 oz is too much

Directions

1 - Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper. In 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and syrup; mix well. Cook until bubbly, stirring constantly.
2 - Add pecans; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until coated. Spread mixture onto parchment-lined cookie sheet.
3 - Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Store in tightly covered container up to 2 weeks.

Pillsbury Note

Pecans are more than 70% fat and can become rancid easily. Store shelled pecans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Transfer cooled pecans to a tightly covered freezer container. Freeze for up to 3 months.

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/glazed-pecans/a53aa7a8-efd1-42bf-886a-2d70be56f363/

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders

After making a dinner or two that my preschooler gave the "thumbs down" to, I decided to make something that I was sure he'd eat and my expectation was to have a frustration-free dinner.

This Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders recipe came out of a March 2008 copy of Southern Living Magazine. I've haven't made this recipe in the almost four years since I tore the page out of the magazine. I decided it was about time to try it.

This is another recent recipe that calls for me to dredge something. I'm so over dredging in a bowl that, once again, I pulled out my plastic bags instead. Every time my husband sees me shaking something in a bag he eyes me like he knows I'm thinking, "I'm so smart. Shaking this bag when others get messy using a bowl." He'd be right. I am thinking that every time I refuse to follow a recipe and dredge.

I altered the ingredients in the recipe since I didn't want to buy saltines and my husband has a recent preference for all things breaded in panko breadcrumbs. Another change I made was with the amount of paprika the recipe called for. It called for 2 tbs. Yikes! Seems like a lot. I only have hot paprika in the house, so I opted for only 1 tbs. Next time I'll be sure to get sweet paprika.

Note: Coating the chicken in flour will lock in moisture and the breadcrumb coating will add crispness.

The verdict? Well...the preschooler gave it the "thumbs down" and Daddy gave it the "thumbs up". I think this is what happened. I feed my child organic chicken and my husband gets the chicken laden with whatever organic chickens don't get. I keep them separate when I'm preparing a meal. I did my shake-n-bake move with my son's chicken first. Maybe I didn't shake the bag enough because his chicken definitely had more of the hot paprika on it than did my husband's. My husband had some of the spicier chicken and then I had extra chicken that I tossed in the bag with what was left over of the mixture and tossed in extra panko.

My husband liked the subtle kick that the paprika gave the chicken. He didn't pick up much of the pecan flavor though. Next time I make this recipe I won't grind up the pecans. I'll crushed them. He tried my son's chicken and said it was great, but maybe a bit too spicy for a 4-year old.

Ingredients (adapted)

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs or 16 saltine crackers, crushed
1/4 cup pecans, ground (just finely chop them up)
1 tbs sweet paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 1/2# chicken tenders (I just used 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into tenders)
1/4 AP flour (place in ziplock bag)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F and mix first 5 ingredients together in a ziplock bag.
2. Whisk egg.
3. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet over parchment paper and spray rack with cooking spray.
4. Toss chicken in flour, dredge in egg (I wish I could do this in a bag too) and toss in breadcrumb mixture.
5. Arrange on wire rack and bake for 18-20 minutes, turning once half way through.