some tasty chicken

I have to save this recipe, it was so good. I have a habit of losing recipes in the random piles of papers around our house. If I blog it, I know I can find it.

This recipe came together kind of randomly. I was looking through the cupboard for something to make for dinner and realized we have like 4 different containers of macadamia nuts. I'm not sure where they all came from exactly but I think it was a combination of Hawaii and Christmas. My mom gives us nuts in our stockings....Anyways, I know they'll never get eaten unless I make something out of them, hence:

Macadamia Nut Chicken with Mango-Pineapple Relish (like brother Chris said this sounds exotic but its actually really simple)
~adapted from Coastal Living via Noble Pig

1/2 Cup soy sauce
1 1/2 Tablepoons brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Mirin (Japanese rice wine,) ~ we didnt use this
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts - I cut each one in half for 8 pieces
salt and pepper
1 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
3/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) ~ we just used normal bread crumbs but panko is so good
2/3 cup flour
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tablesppons butter

Relish:
1 cup mango or papaya, diced
1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
1/3 cup sugar

Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and place in a large heavy duty zip lock bag. pour marinade over chicken, seal and let marinate for at least an hour.

Meanwhile combine mango, pineapple and sugar in a medium heavy saucepan. bring to a boil, stirring constantly; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine macadamia nuts and panko in a shallow dish. place flour in a seperate shallow dish; place eggs in another shallow dish.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. remove chicken from marinade. dredge chicken in flour, and dip in eggs, shaking off excess. dredge in crumb mixture.

heat 2 Tablespoons oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat until butter melts. cook the chicken breasts over medium heat for 2 minutes; turn and cook 3 minutes or until golden. transfer the chicken to a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 17 minutes (our chicken were in smaller pieces so they didnt take that long, i just had to check when they were done). serve with mango-pineapple relish.

This dish was really good, at least Im guessing it was since brother Chrissy ate 5 pieces, leaving me with only one :) it tasted like Chicken teriyaki. The macadamia nuts make it really crunchy and the fruit relish made it taste kinda tropical. it was a really fun meal to have when the weather was so gross.

A long time comin'

I have been wanting to go to the Melting Pot for Forever. We've been talking about going ever since we were engaged. And for my birthday Mckay surprised me and we finally got to go! We had so much fun and everything was sooo tasty! After every course I would be so full and swear I couldnt eat anymore, but I would somehow manage to keep eating, and eating, and eating. I dont think I've ever been so full in my life. It seriously filled me up for like a week, which is a good thing because this dinner cost about that much in groceries.
photos courtesy of Mckays phone:

playing with rocks

Mckay got some climbing gear for his birthday and its been such a fun new hobby for him. He hasn't been able to go much with school and work but he's been able to fit in a couple of trips. Last weekend I tagged along with him and Janson on a little climbing adventure. I say adventure because other than a short climbing trip last fall I havent really been climbing since High School, and lets be honest I know I'm a sissy and I wasn't too excited to make it known to everyone in the gym. We bouldered for a little while and I followed the boys around with the camera.

Then it was my turn. After the first wall my arms felt like jelly, but I'm proud to say I went on to climb three more walls.

We had sooo much fun! It reminded me how addicting climbing can be. And although I walked away with Gumby arms, covered in chalk and smelling like feet I cannot wait to go again :)