CHICKEN IN ALMOND & APRICOT SAUCE - PILETINA U UMAKU S BADEMIMA I MARELICAMA

Place of Origin: Our recipe; based on French cuisine 

A simple but very tasty dish that I came up with when combining what I had on hand. :-)

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

300 g chicken fillet, cut into thin “schnitzels“

butter for frying

salt & black pepper

FOR THE SAUCE:

250 ml cooking cream

50 g almonds, chopped

70 g dry apricots, chopped

10 g butter

100 ml water

50 ml brandy

salt & white pepper

1. Pour brandy into small bowl and put chopped apricots in it and let them soak while you prepare the rest.
2. Chop almonds – the easiest way to do it, as far as I'm concerned, and if you don't want to use food processor for such a small amount, is to place almonds in a plastic bag or between two sheets of plastic wrap and crush them with a meat mallet (if you have wooden one with protrusions/bumps on just one side, use the flat wooden side).
3. Salt and pepper chicken schnitzels.
4. Melt butter in a deep frying pan and fry chicken on both sides till done. We like it well done and crispy (as seen on the photo), please adjust the frying time to your taste.
5. Take the chicken out of the pan, cover with the aluminum foil or a lid so it doesn't dry out and keep it in warm place (hint: heat the oven to 50°C and put it in).
6. In the same pan melt 10 g of butter and fry chopped almonds.
7. Add cooking cream and bring to boil.
8. Add apricots and brandy, salt and white pepper
9. Add water and continue to cook until the sauce thickens (the longer you cook, the thicker it gets – adjust the thickness to your liking).
10. Arrange chicken on plates and pour the sauce over it.
11. Serve with gnocchi, rice or short pasta.
12. Goes well with semi-dry or dry whites wines.

HINTS:

• you can add more brandy if you want more intense brandy taste
• you can substitute chicken with turkey

PILETINA U UMAKU S BADEMIMA I MARELICAMA

Vrlo jednostavno i fino jelo koje sam složila kombinirajući ono što sam našla u frižideru i špajzi. :-)

SASTOJCI (za dvije osobe)

300 g pilećeg filea narezanog na odreske

maslac za prženje

sol i papar

ZA UMAK:

250 ml vrhnja za kuhanje

50 g sjeckanih badema

70 g sjeckanih suhih smokvi

10 g maslaca

100 ml vode

50 ml brandy

sol i bijeli papar

1. Stavite brandy u malu zdjelicu ili šalicu i u njega ubacite sjeckane marelice i ostavite da se namaču dok pripremate ostatak.
2. Nasjeckajte bademe - što se mene tiče, najjednostavniji način za to je staviti bademe u vrećicu za zamrzavanje ili između dvije plastične folije (dobro savinuti rubove da ne ispada) i istući ih batom za meso (ako imate drveni bat koji s jedne strane ima ravnu drvenu plohu, istuce bademe s tom stranom, a ne onom metalnom).
3. Posolite i popaprite piletinu.
4. Otopite maslac u dubokoj tavi i prepržite piletinu s obje strane. Mi volimo jače prepečenu i hrskavu (kako je vidljivo i na fotki), slobodno prilagodite vrijeme pečenja svom ukusu.
5. Izvadite piletinu iz tave, pokrijte folijom (ili nekim poklopcem) da se ne suši i držite ju na toplom (npr. zagrijte pećnicu na 50°C i stavite piletinu unutra).
6. U istoj tavi otopite 10 g maslaca i prepržite sjeckane bademe.
7. Dodajte vrhnje za kuhanje i pustite da zakipi.
8. Dodajte marelice i brandy, sol i bijeli papar.
9. Dodajte vodu i kuhajte dok se umak ne zgusne (što duže kuhate, umak će biti gušći - prilagodite gustoću svom ukusu).
10. Složite piletinu na tanjure i prelijte umakom.
11. Poslužite s njokima, rižim ili kratkom tjesteninom.
12. Dobro se slaže sa suhim ili polusuhim laganim bijelim vinima.

SAVJETI: 

• možete dodati više brandy-ja ako želite izraženiji okus
• možete zamijeniti piletinu s puretinom

Recipe by Linda