The Daring Cooks July 2010 Challenge: Nut Butters

This months daring cooks challenge was to make a a fresh nut butter and to use it in one savory recipe (i.e., not a sweet dessert). We were able to choose the type of nut (e.g., peanuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, etc.). Then puree the nuts into a paste or butter.  Then use our fresh homemade nut butter in at least one savory recipe. The nut butter challenge was inspired by the article “Better with Nut Butter” by Kathy Baruffi in Cooking Light magazine.

     In addition to instructions for making nut butters, we were provided 4 challenge recipes from which to choose: Chicken with Pecan Cream & Mushrooms, Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing, Chicken with Curried Tomato Almond Sauce, and Walnut Walnut White Bean Dip with Rosemary & Sage.

     I'm all over anything with mushrooms so I made the Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms.

Blog-checking lines:  The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

Chicken with Pecan Cream & Mushrooms

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

To make the Pecan Cream:

3/4 cup (180 ml) coarsely chopped pecans*, toasted

1 cup (240 ml) water

¾ teaspoon (3 ml) salt, more as needed

½ pound (225 g) egg noodles or pasta

4 (6-ounce / 170 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil, more as needed

Salt & pepper to taste

Sauce:

1 tablespoon (15 ml) deglazing liquid (water, broth, wine; optional)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil, more as needed

1/4 cup (60 ml) finely chopped shallots

½ pound (225 g) mushrooms, sliced

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fresh thyme leaves

Chopped pecans, (optional garnish)

Directions:

1.Prepare pecan cream. Grind pecans in a food processor for about a minute or so until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. Add water and 3/4 teaspoon (3 ml) salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Set aside pecan cream. (*If starting with prepared pecan butter, blend ¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons (90 ml) pecan butter with the water and salt until smooth.)

2.Cook noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Drain, rinse, and keep warm.

3.If desired, pound chicken to ¼ inch (6 mm) thickness to promote even cooking. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken; sauté 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Cook the chicken in 2 batches, adding more oil if needed for second batch. Set aside cooked chicken on a clean plate, cover to keep warm.

4.Add deglazing liquid to pan if using and stir up any browned bits. If needed, add another teaspoon (5 ml) of oil (or more) to pan for sautéing the shallots and mushrooms. Sauté the shallots and mushrooms over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and starting to brown. Add fresh thyme to the pan. Stir in pecan cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 minutes till reduced slightly.

5.Slice chicken into thin strips. Divide the noodles among serving plates. Add a scoop of the mushroom pecan sauce on top of noodles. Lay sliced chicken on top. Garnish with fresh thyme and/or a pinch of chopped pecans if desired.