Pistachio-crusted Chicken with Coconut-Ginger-Chili Sauce

I cook for my job. I work for a couple, the wife doesn't cook anymore due to health issues, and the husband doesn't cook. They don't eat red meat or dairy, so I am always looking for new and exciting recipes with chicken. One day there were a lot of pistachios in the house, so i was searching for a pistachio-chicken recipe and came across this one. Apparently it is one of Oprah's favorites, invented just for her by her former personal chef, Art Smith. I haven't made it yet, mostly because I don't have half of the ingredients on hand, but I am going to make it someday because it sounds incredible delicious. I never found a pistachio chicken recipe that I had all the ingredients for, so I kind of made one up. I highly recommend encrusting chicken with pistachios...incredible.

Pistachio-crusted chicken with coconut-ginger-chili sauce
Art Smith

INGREDIENTS

Coconut-chili-ginger sauce
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 blades lemongrass, chopped
• 3 (1/2-inch) pieces fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 cup sweet white wine
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• 2 tablespoons Chinese black bean chili sauce
• 1 (8-ounce) can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pistachio-crusted chicken
• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 1 pound salted pistachios, shelled and toasted
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Grapeseed oil to taste

Recipe continues below ↓ advertisement

DIRECTIONS

For the sauce:
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add the tablespoon of butter, the shallots, lemongrass, ginger slices and wine. Reduce to half. Add the broth, red curry paste and Chinese black bean chili sauce and reduce to half again. Add the coconut milk and reduce to half a third time. Remove from the heat and whisk the bits of butter into the sauce until all the butter has been incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. If you reheat, do not allow the sauce to boil or the butter will separate.

For the chicken:
Cut the chicken breasts in half. With a meat mallet, pound until 1/4-inch thick and place in a nonreactive bowl. Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, cover, and let sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.

In a food processor, place half of the pistachios, half of the Parmesan cheese, and half of the herbs. Pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture is finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat this step with the rest of the pistachios and combine with the other pistachio mixture.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Place the flour in another bowl and season it with salt and pepper. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and prepare it for assembly. Preheat a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-low heat with a thin coating of grapeseed oil. Remove one breast, shake off any excess buttermilk and dust the breast with flour on each side. Dip only one side of the chicken back in the buttermilk and press pistachios onto that side. Repeat that step with all of the chicken. Place the chicken in the sauté pan, pistachio side down, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for 2 to 3 minutes. Place in the oven to finish cooking for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove, let rest for 5 minutes and then slice to serve with the coconut-chili-ginger sauce.