Chicken Breasts With Pumpkin Seed Crust Recipes

CHICKEN IN PUMPKIN SEED SAUCE

Steps:

• Place the chicken in a pot with just enough water to cover. Sprinkle with salt, and add the peppercorns, bay leaves, quartered onion and herb bundle. Bring to a low boil, and then reduce the heat and poach the chicken until cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the chicken, straining the stock, and then wipe the pot clean and return to the heat. Peel the skin off the chicken breasts and cover to keep warm until the sauce is ready. Dry toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat until puffed and toasted, 4 to 5 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup of the toasted seeds for garnish. Puree the remaining seeds in a blender or food processor with 1 cup of the stock, the chopped onion, EVOO, cumin, epazote, if using, cinnamon, tomatillos, lettuce, garlic and chiles. Transfer the pumpkin seed puree to the pot with 2 1/2 to 3 cups of the reserved chicken stock and simmer to develop flavor and thicken, 20 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnishreserved toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve with warm corn tortillas, for wrapping, and minced red onion, for topping. If you would like to serve with a vegetable, steamed or sauteed zucchini is perfect.

PUMPKIN SEED BATTERED 'CHICKEN' WITH CRANBERRY CABERNET SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the sauce. In a sauté pan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add shallot and sauté for 3 minutes. Add thyme and cranberries and sauté for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, then cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
• Add vegetable stock and reduce by half again. In a small bowl, combine arrowroot and water. Add the arrowroot mixture to the pan, stir well, and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and whisk in margarine, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove thyme stems before serving.
• To make the cutlets, use a food processor to combine sage, pumpkin seeds, paprika, breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper until well incorporated.
• Dredge each cutlet in flour, dip into soy milk, and then into seasoned breadcrumbs.
• Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Using medium-high heat, sauté cutlets on each side until browned and crisp. Serve with the cranberry Cabernet sauce.

PUMPKIN SEED-CRUSTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Toast the pumpkin seeds and ancho powder in a saute pan on medium high heat. Remove, crush in a mortar and pestle, and place in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, and fresh thyme.
• Stuff the goat cheese underneath the chicken skin of the breast, then dredge the chicken on both sides in the mixture and remove. Heat a saute pan on medium heat, add olive oil. Place the chicken, skin side down into the pan.
• When it becomes golden, flip the chicken and place into the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with a green salad or favorite vegetables.

CRISPY CHICKEN BREASTS WITH SPINACH-AND-GREEN-PUMPKIN-SEED SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the sauce: Bring a large kettle 2/3 full of lightly salted water to a boil and add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Immediately drain and plunge the spinach into a large bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, drain the spinach and squeeze it with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a blender and add the seeds, tarragon, parsley, garlic, zest and stock. Season with salt and pepper and process until very smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Set aside.
• To make the chicken, halve each breast. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of each in 3 places and sprinkle each breast with a pinch of red-pepper flakes and salt and pepper.
• Heat 2 large, heavy skillets, preferably cast iron, over high heat until very hot. Spray or brush skin side of each breast with olive oil and place skin-side down in one of the skillets. Spray the top of the breasts with oil and place the second skillet on top of the breasts, weighing it down with a foil-covered brick or a similar weight. Lower the heat to medium and cook until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes depending on thickness.
• To serve, gently heat the sauce over low heat. Pour a pool of sauce on each of 4 dinner plates. Slice the chicken breasts on the bias and fan the slices over the sauce and serve immediately with mashed beans or mashed potatoes.

SPICY GRILLED CHICKEN WITH PUMPKIN-SEED SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Add pumpkin seeds; cook, stirring often, until puffed, about 5 minutes. Add lettuce, vinegar, and 1 cup water; season with 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, covered, until lettuce is tender, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to a blender; add cilantro. Blend on high speed until sauce is very smooth, about 3 minutes. Thin sauce with 2 to 4 tablespoons more water, if needed (it should be pourable).
• Meanwhile, heat grill to medium high; oil grates. Rub chicken with remaining tablespoon oil; season generously with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Serve with sauce.

CHICKEN TENDERS WITH PUMPKIN, SESAME AND POPPY SEED BREADING

Steps:

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Line a separate large baking sheet with paper towels and a wire rack.
• Combine the garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Mix the flour with 2 teaspoons of the seasoned salt in a large shallow bowl and set aside. Whisk the egg in a large shallow bowl and set aside. Combine the panko, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds and sesame seeds in a large shallow bowl and set aside.
• Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (it should be about 1 inch deep) until it registers 375 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.
• While the oil is heating up, bread the chicken in small batches. First, place the chicken in the flour mixture, coating each tender evenly and dusting off any excess flour. Then place the chicken in the egg wash, making sure each tender is covered. Place the tenders in the panko mixture, rolling the chicken so each tender has a nice coating. Be sure not to overcrowd the bowls with chicken, as you want each tender properly coated. Place the breaded chicken on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Cook the chicken until golden brown and an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, 4 to 6 minutes on each side. If the chicken is browning too fast, lower the heat. Place the cooked chicken on the wire rack and serve hot.