Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

When I think of nuts, my thoughts invariably wander to chunky chocolate brownies stuffed to the gills with nuts, asian stirfries featuring cashews or a simple snack of wasabi peanuts (my latest guilty pleasure). Not to mention peanut butter - a sandwich filling hero for kids around the world. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be making a nut butter from scratch though. 

But the Daring Kitchen clearly didn't pay attention to my wilder (or milder for that matter) dreams, because look what they confronted me with:

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.

Say what? Not only did I have to make a nut butter from scratch but I had to find a way to use it in a recipe too? I'm not going to lie, my initial thought was "urgh" followed closely by "you've got to be kidding me". But, brave soul that I am (the things I do in the name of blogging...), I forged on. And who would've thought that making nut butter would turn out to be so easy? Throw the nuts into your food processor and blend blend blend. Easy as pie, and just as tasty.

Side-note: This particular application of nut butter (adding more water to form a cream) is sheer genius, resulting in a rich, creamy texture and taste without any dairy in sight. So if you're lactose intolerant, I got your back.

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms
Adapted from Cooking Light, October 2002
Serves 4 (generously)

1 tbsp olive oil
3 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 500g)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 large onion, finely sliced
150g oyster mushrooms, sliced
150g white button mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup pecans (unsalted)
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage 
chopped pecans, to garnish (optional)

1. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken on all sides. Turn heat down to medium-low, cover and steam for 10 - 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through but still moist. Remove, slice and set aside (keep warm).
2. Deglaze pan and add more oil if necessary before frying the onions and mushrooms until tender.
3. Make your pecan cream by processing the nuts until smooth using a food processor. When the nuts start to pull away from the sides and resemble a paste, add a cup of water and process again briefly to form a cream. Add salt to taste.
4. Add pecan cream to the mushrooms, along with the sage and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a minute or two or until reduced slightly.
5. Serve the mushroom cream over pasta of your choice (I used orzo) and top with sliced chicken. Garnish with nuts and serve warm.

Nutritional info (per serving): Calories 353.6, Total fat 21.2 g, Saturated fat 2.3 g, Polyunsaturated fat 5.5 g, Monounsaturated fat 12.0 g, Cholesterol 72.5 mg, Sodium 90.1 mg, Potassium 559.3 mg, Total carbohydrate 8.3 g, Dietary fiber 3.8 g, Sugars 2.0 g, Protein 33.4 g

Good source of: Niacin 78.7 %, Manganese 53.7 %, Vitamin B6 40.2 %, Selenium 37.9 %, Phosphorus 34.5 %, Copper 22.6 %