Call me narcissistic, but hey….when you make up a recipe that tastes THIS GOOD, you kind of want to name it after yourself! So…thats EXACTLY what I did!
Despite the obvious name dropping, bragging on myself, and the shameless “tooting my own horn”, the fact is, this is a pretty darn good recipe and it tastes like sheer and utter heaven. Totally delightful and an absolute “JOY” to eat! (did you see what I did there? hehehe)
But enough being overly proud of myself. Let’s get to the recipe!
Chicken Joy-Joy
Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
4 Tbsp. Butter (divided)
Himalayan Pink Salt
Fine Black Pepper
1/3 cup toasted pecans (see bottom for toasting instructions)
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
4 Tbsp. Heavy Whipping Cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*
Melt two Tbsp of the butter in your cast Iron skillet, add the garlic.
Salt and pepper both sides of each breast.
When garlic is beginning to become aromatic and butter is starting to bubble, add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook the chicken, turning frequently, until it begins to brown up. When both sides are nice and brown remove the pan from the stove and place it in the oven. Cook until the center of the chicken reaches 160-165*. Mine took 11 minutes but it all depends on the thickness of your chicken. Check often until its right.
Remove the pan from the oven, set the breasts aside, and melt the other two Tbsp. of butter in the pan along with the pan drippings and remaining garlic. Add the heavy whipping cream, and the toasted pecans. Stir as it heats and darkens in color. Remove from the heat. Spoon over the chicken breasts and serve.
When you are finished eating, scream and shout for JOY! (I jest about that part of course!)
*Toasting the pecans. First crush them, unless they are already crushed. You could also just chop them a little. You don’t want them to small. Line a cookie sheet with parchment (I just use my toaster oven and the small cookie sheet that fits inside of it. But you can use a regular cookie sheet and oven if you don’t have a toaster oven. Toast or broil on low just until then are browned a bit dark, (10 min in my toaster oven) Allow to cool before touching them.
Well, this does sound quite joyful! But I cannot cook meat with dairy products. Do you have a suitable substitute suggestions that will yield similar results?
If you follow Paleo, Vegan or are otherwise dairy free, or in your case of religious law, I would try replacing the butter with coconut oil. The pecan, cream and butter mixture is cooked separately from the meat, and then served on top of the meat…would that be allowed? If not, maybe try replacing the heavy whipping cream with coconut cream and adding a little unsweetened shredded coconut to your pecans before toasting. Reduce the stove heat slightly since coconut oil heats faster and hotter than butter and pops a lot. In fact, I think I might try it this way next…Coconut Chicken Joy Joy!
Thanks! Great idea!