Almond Crusted Chicken Strips

Do you have those days when you just can't wait to get into the kitchen and "create" something special? All kinds of ideas and ingredients are running through your head. This happened to me and yes, I am reporting directly to the 12-step program for ingredient abuse.

This started out as breaded chicken strips with a blanc sauce and turned into, I don't know...let me show you what happened. You call it -

Beat 1 egg add a splash of water and set your chicken strips in it (about 1 to 1-1/4 lbs. of chicken breast strips).

Combine 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a food processor and pulse to chop almonds and combine dry ingredients. Dredge chicken through the bread crumb mixture.

Heat 1/4 cup of canola oil in a a large over medium to medium high heat. Add strips and cook 3 minutes on each side, transfer to a paper towel lined plate and cover with foil and keep warm. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil (there probably will not be much oil left in the pan), leave the debris in the skillet. Add 2 green onions finely chopped, 1 can of quartered, drained artichoke hearts, 4 cloves minced garlic and a couple of handfuls of baby bella mushrooms. Saute for about 3 to 4 minutes of medium-high heat.

Pour in 1/2 cup of dry white wine to the veggies and let this sizzle for a minute, then whisk in 1-1-/2 cup cream into the sauce. Lower the heat on the sauce and whisk in 4 tablespoons of cold butter into pot until it is completely blended. Remove from heat and season with salt to taste and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Plate the strips and spoon a little "blanc" sauce down over top and garnish with crumbled feta cheese.

This dish got rave reviews from the homegirlz they picked out the shrooms and artichokes but were all over the chicken and cheese. My husband loved it too.

So go home and get crazy!