Walnut-coated chicken with pomegranate sauce

The availability of fresh pomegranate in the grocery store led to my search for an interesting recipe to involve them in. Ironically, we ended up only needing pomegranate juice (out of the bottle rather than the fruit) for this particular dish. Inspired by a traditional Persian stew, fesenjan, involving walnuts and pomegranate, the Bon Appétit Cookbook promised us a quick and easy dish, and in fact, it was quite straightforward to put together.

Recipe

from The Bon Appétit Cookbook: Fast Easy FreshServes 21/4 cup + 2 tbsp chopped walnuts1/4 cup all purpose flour1 egg, beaten to blend2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts2 tbsp butter1/8 cup dry white wine2 tbsp chopped onion1/4 cup chicken broth1/4 cup pomegranate juice1-1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses1 tsp honeyBlend walnuts and flour in food processor until nuts are finely chopped; transfer to plate. Place egg in shallow bowl. Using meat mallet, pound chicken to 1/4" thickness. Dip chicken in beaten egg, then into walnut mixture to coat. Melt 1 tbsp butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté until brown and cooked through.Boil wine and onion in small saucepan until most of wine evaporates, about 2 minutes. Add broth, pomegranate juice, molasses and honey. Boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Whisk in remaining tbsp of butter. Season to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: We made our own pomegranate molasses, which basically consisted of boiling down 3/4 cup of pomegranate juice until it reduced into a thick syrup.I've always been a big fan of pomegranate, and I'm equally a big fan of pomegranate plus chicken. The walnut breading was definitely worthwhile, as it added a great nutty flavour and texture to the chicken. The sauce, while thinner than I was expecting, was super tasty--wonderfully sweet, with a touch of tartness. We paired it with a mushroom risotto and pomegranate-avocado spinach salad, with honest-to-goodness pomegranate seeds that we painstakingly (and rather messily) dug out and sprinkled on top. Delicious!