A taste of NYC... Pretzel Crusted Chicken, Croissant Pudding

I'm still in a food coma from tonight's yummy dinner :). Cooking today was a priority - life has been nuts this week (.. is it only Tuesday?!), so I really wanted to spend some quality time with hubbie and creature.

This week is one of those exciting times when I know I'll feel accomplished by the end... but making it to the end will be a challenge. In addition to presenting my first draft of my masters thesis on Thursday, helping our undergrads submit their first conference presentation abstracts (woohoo! so proud of them!), and putting together another awesome attention paradigm for our infant study (by, oh, tomorrow), I'm also flying out of town Friday morning to do a somewhat impromptu 36-hour research assessment with a sweet kiddo who has fragile X syndrome. To make matters more interesting, the week kicked off with a somewhat comical bang yesterday.

Yesterday was a Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

... to the point where it was almost laughable. I slipped on a patch of ice while walking Molly, at which point the brave cat-wannabe got scared and ran to our apartment, leaving me face down on the sidewalk. Monday just kept getting worse ... clients out of school, tons of RTI meetings, manuscript rejected (expected, but still sad), an increasingly sore rear end from the Ice Incident, and a bunked dataset that kept me at the office until 1AM. Although Molly lost some points due to lack of bravery during the Ice Incident, she somewhat redeemed herself by meeting me at the door, chipper as ever, in the middle of the night when I finally returned home after a record breaking 17.5 hour day.

The great part about a terrible Monday? Tuesday had to be better... and it so was. I found another broken parking meter, one of my dear friends met me at the office at 8am with lattes (seriously - how sweet!), my master's analyses are DONE.... and I beat Cory home in time to have dinner going by the time he walked in the door. Exponentially superior to Monday.

Tonight's dinner made Tuesday even better. Both recipes were tweaked from Food and Wine Magazine. The pretzel dish was delicious - pretty easy, and it mixed up our usual chicken repetoire. The croissant desert reminded me of a french toast tailgating dish I sometimes make - it'd be a delicious brunch treat, but we loved it as a rich dessert. The original recipe called for a few tablespoons of bourbon - I'd imagine cinnamon and brown sugar would be a yummy addition, too!


Pretzel and Mustard-Encrusted Chicken
1 10-oz bag Snyders honey mustard pretzels (must be the thick, stubby ones!)
1/2 c vegetable oil
3 T red wine vinegar
1/2 c coarse mustard
3 T dijon mustard
1/2 c water
salt and pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken halves

Preheat oven to 400. In a food processor, pulse pretzels until coarsely chopped. Pour into a shallow bowl. Wipe out the food processor, then add the rest of the ingredients (minus the chicken). Process until smooth, then pour half of the mixture into a shallow dish, reserving the rest. Arrange a wire rack over a jelly-roll baking sheet (with edges). Coat chicken in mustard mixture, then roll in pretzels, pressing the mixture into the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, then cover with foil to avoid burning and continue to bake 10-15 minutes, or until juices run clear. Serve with reserved mustard sauce drizzled over top.

Caramelized Croissant Pudding

Pam

1/2 c sugar

2 T water

2 large croissants, torn into small pieces

1/2 c heavy cream

1/2 c almond milk

2 eggs.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a small baking dish with Pam, then add torn croissant pieces. Meanwhile, bring sugar and water to a slow boil over medium high heat, stirring continuously. Once crystals dissolve, leave mixture on heat for 5 minutes until it begins to turn a light amber color. Immediately take off heat and stir in heavy cream and almond milk, slowing continuously. If caramel solidifies, put mixture back over heat and stir until combined. Whisk eggs in a bowl and add to milk mixture, then pour over croissants. Push down on croissants to ensure they absorb the liquid, then let sit for 10-15 minutes. Bake 20-25 minutes on a medium rack. Serve warm.