Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breasts With Cheddar Mustard Sauce (Rachael Ray)

This is absolutely delicious <3 I omitted the pickle and lemon, and my thyme and parsley were dried instead of fresh, because that shit's expensive, and I'm not doing the whole greenhouse thing. Yet. Anyway, you can substitute 1 tsp. dried herbs to 1 T. fresh. Also, I added a dash of nutmeg to the cheese sauce.

Ingredients

• 4 quart-size plastic food storage bags
• 4 small, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 5-ounce bag of salted pretzels, any shape
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 pound, about 2 1/2 cups, sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 heaping tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, a generous handful, chopped
• 1/4 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 large sour dill pickle, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

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Preparation

 

Preheat a large non-stick skillet with a 1/4-inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
Sprinkle a little water into four medium food storage baggies. Place 1 chicken breast in each bag and seal it up, pushing out excess air. Use the bottom of a heavy pot or pan and pound each breast until flat, just shy of busting out of the bag. Repeat with the other 3 chicken breasts.

Place the pretzels in a food processor or blender and grind until fine. Transfer the ground pretzels to a shallow dish, add the thyme and some salt and pepper. Crack and beat 2 eggs in a second shallow dish with a splash of water. One at a time, coat each chicken breast in the egg and then the ground pretzels.

Add the pretzel-coated chicken breast to the hot oil. Cook in a single layer, in 2 batches if necessary, about 3 or 4 minutes on each side, until the juices run clear and breading is evenly browned.
While the chicken is frying, in a medium saucepot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour to it. Cook flour and butter for 1 minute and then whisk in the milk. When the milk comes to a bubble, stir in the cheese and mustard with a wooden spoon. Season with a little salt and pepper, and remove cheese sauce from the heat.

Transfer the fried pretzel-crusted chicken breast to a serving plate, drizzle with the mustard cheddar sauce, then sprinkle with a little parsley, finely chopped onion and sour dill pickle. Serve lemon wedges alongside.

Yields: 4 servings

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