Walnut-garlic chicken paupiettes

Another day, another pair of frozen chicken breasts...this time we opted to roll them up into rather fetching paupiettes with a walnut-garlic paste. I was initially a little leery of trying this recipe, since it seemed somewhat fancy ("paupiettes"!) for a mid-week meal and it included apple juice in the sauce (which is not my juice of choice). However, I'm always a sucker for walnuts and garlic! 

Recipe

adapted from Chicken BreastsServes 2-34 garlic cloves, peeled2/3 cup walnuts1/3 cup finely minced fresh parsley3 tbsp walnut oil6 tbsp apple juice2 skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4" thick2/3 cup sour cream1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted in a 350 F oven for 10 minutes, until brown and crispysalt and pepperPreheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil bottom of a baking pan. In a food processor, make a paste of the garlic, walnuts, parsley, salt and pepper. Heat the walnut oil in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the walnut mixture and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Spread half the mixture on the flattened chicken breasts and roll into paupiettes (like a jelly roll) and place, same side down, in the baking pan. Tent the pan with foil. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or just until done. Do not overbake. To make the sauce, put apple juice in the sauté pan with the other half of the walnut mixture over medium-high heat and cook until liquid has almost completely evaporated. Remove pan from the heat, stir in the sour cream until thoroughly blended. Return to very low heat, just to warm through. Pour over paupiettes and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: We didn't have parsley, so we unfortunately had to omit that. We also used homemade crème fraîche instead of sour cream. We also forgot to sprinkle the almonds on top, despite toasting them.Despite our forgettings and missing parsley, the dish was sublimely good. Even David was in awe of how tasty this dish was. The sauce was sweet, tangy and tart, and the chicken was moist and nutty. The garlic was mild, but added a nice warm, richness to the chicken. When paired with an always delicious mushroom risotto, it was truly spectacular. David suspected that it would taste even better with parsley (when we happen to obtain some, we'll have to try it again!)