Week 1: Honey-Mustard Chicken with Pretzels

The Recipe
3 tbsp honey
4 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp grainy dijon mustard (optional)
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp lemon juice (~1/2 lemon)
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
450g chicken breast, pounded thin
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
3/4 cup pretzels or nachos chips crushed
1/4 cup chopped cashew nuts
6-8 slices (rounds) of bell pepper ~1cm thick.

Heat the oven to 200C.

Mix the honey, mustards, oil, lemon juice and garlic, season with salt and pepper and divide in half.
Mix pretzels, cashew nuts and breadcrumbs together.
Dredge the chicken in the flour, dip in half of the dressing, press into the breadcrumb / pretzels mixture and place on the bell pepper slices in an ovenproof dish.
Bake until cooked and golden brown, about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

Serve straight from the oven with remaining dressing.

The Verdict
I don't like pretzels - not the ones found in Denmark anyway, so went with the crushed nacho chips. Good call :) I think it would also have worked well with just cashew nuts or a mixture of nuts. The sky's the limit.

There was far too much flour and breadcrumbs mix - I think I could probably have made do with 2/3rds of each. I'll try that next time.

But it was absolutely delicious. The coatings made the chicken so extremely tender and moist - completely preventing the dryness that's so common with ovenbaked chicken. DH didn't care overly much for the breadcrumb coating but loved the dressing. I loved it all :) So next time I'll probably make half-and-half to cater to each of us :) I love it when catering to different tastes is so easy as just leaving out the final step.