Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Heaven On A Bone and Rice with Pine Nuts…

This might seem like a strange combination, but it is wonderful!
 Many of you might be saying to yourself, “Pine nuts? I have never had those.”  Well if you have eaten Pesto sauce, then you have had pine nuts.
Pine nuts are actually a little sweet and tender. There is a miniscule taste of pine, that if you are not looking for it you will miss it. Where can you buy pine nuts? The baking aisle, in your grocery store or health food store.
I love this recipe it is super simple.  The broth seasoning and butter, mixed with the pine nuts, gives plain rice a warm woody taste. There are golden raisins in this recipe. My family does not care for raisins in their food; I just omit them. If you do omit them, try adding in ¼ teaspoon of crushed red peppers.
I like to pair this with a baked chicken breast recipe called Heaven on a Bone.
The recipe calls for skinless chicken breast.  I personally don’t care for bones in my chicken breast, so I use boneless skinless chicken breasts. When I received this recipe, it was a recipe of ingredients only, no amounts or measurements. I have tinkered with the ingredient amounts. I think I have come up with the correct proportions.
 Feel free though to add or subtract any of the amounts to your own liking… After all, we are not baking pastry we are cooking chicken!
The recipe calls for breadcrumbs mixed with butter. I prefer to use Ritz brand crackers because of their butter taste and omit the extra butter.
So what does this taste like? The honey gives the chicken a hint of sweetness, while also sealing in the juices. This will not be a dried out chicken breast! The crackers add a crunchy, mild saltiness and the cheese makes it a bit sharp; it really is heaven!