Breaded Chicken with Roasted Garlic Peppercorn Sauce

My latest chicken adventure was one that didn’t even begin with chicken. I’ve been dabbling in sauces a bit lately, and upon discovering a tasty sounding recipe for roasted garlic peppercorn sauce, the next task was to find something to pour it on. Chicken seemed appropriate to me, so I opted for a breaded chicken recipe, using Panko to create a satisfying crunch.

I served the chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower, but I’m only going to list recipes for the chicken and sauce here. Mashed potatoes can be made any number of ways and there’s nothing particularly special about the way I do them, and steamed vegetables are easy. Plus, who am I to tell you what to serve as your side dish? Go nuts!

Peppercorn sauce recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Breaded chicken recipe adapted from cooks.com

Difficulty: Relatively Easy
Active Prep Time: About 30 minutes
Total Prep Time: About 1 hour
Special Equipment: None
Serves: 2 – 3

Peppercorn Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 whole head garlic
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon crushed peppercorns
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

Breaded Chicken Ingredients:

• 3 whole chicken breasts
• ½ cup grated cheese
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1½ teaspoons garlic salt
• ½ cup butter, melted

Instructions:

(Begin by roasting the garlic)

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (I used my toaster oven for this so that I could bake the chicken separately, but at the same time). Slice off the top of the head of garlic so the tips of the cloves are exposed. Place in a small baking dish, and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the garlic, then cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 45 minutes.

(While garlic roasts, move onto chicken prep)

2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a small bowl, melt the butter by microwaving it for 30 seconds. In a separate bowl or plate, combine the Panko, cheese, garlic salt, and pepper.

3. Dip each chicken breast in butter and coat completely, then dredge it through the breadcrumb mixture.

4. Place breaded chicken breasts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumb mixture.

5. Bake for 45 minutes.

(Garlic should finish roasting before chicken is done. Move onto peppercorn sauce prep)

6. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

7. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and milk so there are no lumps, and pour into the pan with the butter. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes until it thickens.

8. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skin, and mash.

9. Stir garlic into the sauce, then add salt, peppercorns, and nutmeg. Reduce to very low heat to keep it warm until the chicken is ready.

10. When chicken is ready, pour peppercorn sauce on top and serve with sides of your choosing.