Entrée – Poultry
Buttermilk Pecan Chicken with Corn Tomato Relish & Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This recipe was featured on "You're the Chef" episode #203. Buy this episode from WVIA.

Yield: six portions

Ingredients:

Chicken
1/2 c.	salted butter, melted and clarified
1 c.	all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp.	salt
1 tsp.	ground black pepper
1/2 c.	buttermilk
4 each	whole eggs
2 c.	pecans, ground fine
6 each	6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied if thick
Corn & Tomato Relish
1/4 c.	salad oil
1 c.	medium diced green pepper
1 c.	medium diced Vidalia onion
2 c.	medium diced tomato
2 c.	fresh or frozen kernel corn
1/2 c.	water
1 tsp.	salt
1 tsp.	ground black pepper
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
4 each	large sweet potatoes
1/2 c.	hot milk, as needed
1/2 c.	butter
as needed	salt
as needed	ground black pepper

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Chicken procedure:
Begin by preparing the clarified butter. Combine the flour, salt and pepper thoroughly in a medium bowl. Mix the eggs and buttermilk thoroughly in a medium bowl. Wash and dry the chicken breasts and remove any fat or cartilage. Place the ground pecans into another bowl. Working from left to right and keeping one hand dry and another wet, dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour. Shake off the excess and put the breast on a tray. Dip the floured chicken into the egg mixture. Pick it up and let it drain for an instant, then pat the chicken in the pecans until they stick and completely coat the chicken. Repeat this with all the breasts. This should be done just before frying. Hold refrigerated. Using a large sauté pan preheated over medium high heat, add the chicken breasts and brown them on both sides. Place them on a baking sheet. (This can be done up to 2 hours before final cooking and meal service.) When all the breasts are completed, finish cooking them in a 375°F oven for 5 minutes or until the juices (that will be seeping from the chicken while it cooks in the oven) turn white.

Corn & Tomato Relish procedure:
Start by cooking the corn covered in 1/2 c. water over high heat for about 3 minutes. Pour the corn into a bowl and allow it to cool. In a separate pan, heat the oil and add the peppers and onions and sweat them until they are soft. Add the tomatoes and toss them for about 20 seconds to warm them through, then remove the mixture from the heat and transfer to the same bowl with the corn. Season with salt and pepper and hold until service at room temperature. This relish can be made up to 4 hours ahead.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes procedure:
Peel and quarter the sweet potatoes and prepare for mashing by cooking thoroughly. Drain the potatoes and let them dry over the burner that has been turned off. Mash in the butter and hot milk. Hold hot.

Remove the breasts from the oven and serve them with the corn relish and sweet potatoes.