Name: Almond-Crusted Chicken
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 cup slivered almonds; 2 cups panko bread crumbs; 1/2 cup Dijon mustard; 3 tablespoons honey; 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives; 2 large eggs; 8 thin-cut, boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds); Salt and pepper; 1 cup vegetable oil

Why This Recipe Works

Almond-Crusted Chicken recipes often come out bland and soggy or burned to a crisp. For the perfect balance of flavor and texture in our version, we turned to panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs). Cooking the cutlets in two batches ensured the oil didn’t cool too dramatically when the meat was added, and resulted in perfectly crisp cutlets.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Pulse almonds in food processor until finely ground. Combine ground almonds and bread crumbs in shallow dish. Combine 6 tablespoons mustard, honey, and chives in bowl.

Beat eggs and remaining mustard in second shallow dish. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. One at a time, coat cutlets lightly with egg mixture and dredge in crumb mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer cutlets to large plate and let dry 5 minutes.2

Heat ½ cup oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Cook half of cutlets until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and repeat with remaining oil and chicken. Serve with honey mustard.