Honey Dijon Chicken with Warm Potato Salad-how to prepare

A few weeks ago I was watching an episode of "Restaurant Impossible" while I was about to start dinner.  I had planned to make chicken breasts - with what else I don't remember!  Robert Irvine, the chef of the show, was teaching the restaurant cook how to make a dish composed of chicken breasts served over a warm potato salad.  I was amazed to see that he coated the chicken with egg beaten with honey mustard - this was exactly what I was going to do having discovered some time ago that the honey mustard adds great flavor to the chicken. 
The dish looked so delicious that I stopped what I was doing, went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients I needed and made the recipe then and there.  I adapted it quite a bit from the original which involved a half gallon of oil to cook the chicken and three or four skillets.  I think this is a dish which you will enjoy too!
Note:  In my video demonstration, I used half the ingredients, but the recipe below will serve four.

Honey Dijon Chicken with Warm Potato Salad

Ingredients:

Dressing:
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons bacon fat, at room temperature (from diced bacon)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper

Chicken:
Oil for frying
¼ cup honey mustard
2 eggs, whipped
Four 6-ounce chicken breasts
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Japanese breadcrumbs

Salad:
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup thinly sliced shallots
4 ounces  haricot verts, steamed
5 or 6 small red potatoes (about 8 ounces), poached or steamed, medium doneness
¼ cup cooked and diced bacon
¼ cup hot chicken stock


Directions:

In a medium-sized skillet, cook the diced bacon until browned and crisp.  Remove to paper towels to drain and reserve 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat.  Wipe out the pan with paper towels.
In a food processor, mix the vinegar, bacon fat and mustard. Mix well, and then slowly drizzle in the oil until well emulsified. Taste and season. Note:  if you don't have a processor, simply whisk the ingredients together.
In a dish, blend the honey mustard and eggs. Next, sprinkle the breasts with the salt and pepper. Then toss in the flour, then the egg wash and finally coat each breast well with the breadcrumbs. Repeat the process with each breast. Preheat the oil in the skillet until shimmering. Fry for 3 minutes. Flip and finish for a final 3 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oil and allow any excess oil to drain on paper towels. Wipe out the skillet again.
Warm the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat, warm the oil and then add the shallots, haricot verts and potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes. Then reduce the heat and keep warm for dressing.
Add hot chicken stock to dressing and whiz until emulsified.  Add to the potato mixture and stir to coat. 
Place one quarter of the potato mixture on each of four plates, sprinkle with bacon and top with a chicken breast.

WATCH THE VIDEO


CHESAPEAKE BAY CRAB CAKES

When we lived in Virginia Beach on an inlet from the Chesapeake Bay, we could - and did - catch blue crabs right off our dock. While they made great eating just boiled with Old Bay seasoning, they were even better made into crab cakes. I mean real crab cakes with lots of lump crab meat and very little else. Here's my recipe:


1lb. backfin crabmeat
4 tablespoons fine, dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
I cup mayonnaise
I teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
4 tablespoons red pepper, finely chopped and sautéed in 1
tablespoon butter until softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 drops Tabasco, or to taste
1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1 to 1½ cups Panko bread crumbs
Oil for frying


In a medium sized bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper, lemon juice, Tabasco and Old Bay and then fold the crabmeat in gently.
Dip in Panko
.
Form into 6 cakes and fry for about 5 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. You may also make these an hors d'ouevre by using just 2 tablespoons of the mixture per cake.

(Leftovers reheat beautifully and they can be frozen)





Rick and I in our front Williamsburg style garden


Our dock where we caught crabs with a chicken baited line

Watch the video demonstration: