Recipe Snapshot: French Chicken

This recipe is known in our home simply as "French chicken."  I think it has a real name, but being that I found the recipe in French (with its French name), I find it's simpler to stick with "French chicken."  I love this recipe.  It's easy, delicious, and impressive.  I've made it for guests, including a special birthday dinner for a friend this past fall.  I also made it last night on an ordinary Tuesday, because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, and I felt like it.  What else makes it great?  It tastes, somehow, French, without being fussy or complicated (unlike the traditional boeuf bourguignon that I made that took nearly 7 hours to complete).

I often serve this chicken with haricot verts (fancy-sounding French words for skinny green beans) and some kind of potato.  Last night I served it with a green salad and some spaghetti squash.  I love that it has come out perfectly every time I make it.  And like I said above, it just tastes "French."  I think it's the Dijon (must use real Dijon, not plain yellow mustard or the grainy stuff) and the herbs.  If my guess is right, this is actually pretty healthy, as well.  Think about it--the only real fat is the Parmesan and the pine nuts.

Recipe is below the cut.

French Chicken, recipe found online in French, translated by Julie
Time: 45 minutes. Serves: 4.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1/8 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves (can substitute tarragon if you prefer)
• 4 boneless and skinless half chicken breasts
• 4 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp olive oil to oil the baking dish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Toast the pine nuts in dry skillet over medium. While toasting, rinse, dry, and trim the fat from the chicken breasts.
3. Coarsely chop the toasted nuts, cheese, garlic, parsley, and rosemary in a food processor.  Place the resulting crumbs in a large, flat pan or plate.
4. Brush the top side of each breast with 1 tsp of the mustard and then press the top of each breast into the nut/herb/cheese mixture.
5. Arrange the breasts, coated side up, on a lightly oiled baking dish and top with the remaining nut mixture;
6. Bake the chicken breasts for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.