What Are You Nuts? A Private Chef’s Top Tips for “Nut Crusting” Foods

Nut Crusted Chicken Skewers with Blueberry
Salsa and Point Reyes Blue Cheese Crostini

Crispy, crunchy, crust. We humans are somehow pre-disposed to the taste and textural sensations of a good crusted food item, most often derived by a roiling bath of perfectly heated hot oil in the deep fat fryer. Well, times they are a-changin’ and chefs and food scientists around the world continue to search feverishly for a “no-fry” substitute with “fry” appeal. But as they try and try, we still fry and fry…

It is easy to break free from “fry” to embrace much lighter techniques such as “pan fry” and “oven fry” which both rely on tasty crusts such as seasoned cornmeal, parmesan or bread crumb, fairly high heat, relatively thin foods and just a bit of oil. My favorite crusting technique is the lesser known “nut crust”, so often used in restaurants, so rarely used at home. Nut crusting is so incredibly easy, yet seems so swanky, it is a private chef staple for me to this day. When I would get a last minute heads up that (insert famous Hollywood name here) just arrived at SFO and would be arriving in an hour for dinner with a few of their entourage, I always had some culinary secret power maneuvers up my sleeves. Even though George Lucas is famously “non-swanky”, his guests are often a different story! ( Luckily, that place runs like clockwork, so “last minute” was VERY rare.)

A Private Chef’s Top Tips for “Nut Crusting” Foods

1.Crust Creation and Storage: Make a lot of crust at once. Be sure to process the crust to suit the item you are cooking, do not over or under process the nuts. I usually DO NOT pre-toast the nuts, as they will most often be cooked on the foods I am crusting. You can pre-toast nuts that will be used to sprinkle directly on a food, or will be very quickly cooked (like a crusted goat cheese round) or uncooked such as on a cheese log. Label and freeze your crusts and they will last for months, use directly from the freezer.

2.Seasoning Crust and Foods: The key to flavor is layering your seasoning. Often a lot of flavor will come from the marinade or medium you use to adhere the crust to the food (see #4), yet be sure to season the protein and the crust. Try combinations of nuts with Panko (Japanese bread crumbs), grated Parmesan, dried herbs, freshly ground spices, hearty fresh herbs such as thyme or VERY fine rosemary and salt and pepper. The combinations are endless!

Raw, crusted skewers on a pre-heated sheet pan

3.Preparing Foods for Crusting: Remove all skin, shells and bones. Any nut crust will fall to pieces if your diners try and pick out bones and skin that did not crisp under the crust. Thick foods should be pounded (chicken) or cut thinly to allow for even cooking time. Some foods, such as filet mignon do best if it is seared on both sides, then crusted on top and finished in the oven.

4.Making it Stick: You can marinate, brush or dredge your soon-to-be crusted item. Try a thick style marinade (see recipe), various mustards (Dijon, tarragon, spicy), seasoned egg mixture or a blend of egg white and mustard. You can crust both top and bottom or just the top of an item. Use separate tools, utensils and hands to handle the dry and wet items to prevent contaminating the crust. Save the “clean” crust for later use.

5.Cooking tips: Pre-heating is key, watch for burning! In my Nut Crusted Chicken Skewers with Blueberry Salsa, I pre-heat a sheet pan in the oven and slide parchment and nut crusted skewers on top of the hot pan and bake. For a longer cooking item, I suggest a foil covered pre-heated sheet pan, removed from the oven and quickly sprayed or brushed with oil, place the crusted food on top and back in the oven. Use convection settings, but make sure you reduce your heat 25 ° with any convection setting as convection increases browning. Turn foods as needed. In a pan, be sure to pre-heat and watch your heat, you want even medium heat.

Try it yourself! Play the role of “private chef” to your own fabulous entourage and “bust out the crust”. Don your shades to be ready for the glaring flashes of the paparazzi and please, grant at least a few autographs!

With Chef Scott in my Hollywood shades, literally in Hollywood!

Nut Crusted Chicken Skewers with Blueberry Salsa

{to print the recipe click here}

I love a crispy, crusty coating as much as the next person, but I am not a big fan of deep frying. While I adore French fries and the like, I leave the frying to others (except for oven and pan frying using just a little oil). A crispy nut crust is an easy no-fry way to bring crunchy, tasty crust onto your plate without busting out the deep fryer. This method works for skewers, tenders and even pounded chicken breasts as well as fish. I created a fresh blueberry salsa to pair with the skewers. Two of my favorite foods; nuts and blueberries are highly recommended for health. Try it! -Chef Rachelle

Pecan Chicken Skewers: Makes 15-18 skewers

3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts (apx. 1¼ lbs. total), trimmed of fat as needed
15-18 small skewers– no need to soak them
½ cup Asian plum sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce
10 ounces pecans, walnuts or almonds, chopped to resemble oatmeal in size
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper

Blueberry Salsa: Makes apx. 2 ⅓ cups

12 ounces blueberries (apx. 2 ½ cups)
¼ small red or yellow onion, finely diced (apx. 3 Tbsp.)
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced (1 Tbsp.)
2 medium garlic cloves, trimmed and finely minced
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons mint chiffonade (thinly sliced mint)
3 Tablespoons lime juice (apx. 2 limes)
½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Skewers:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F or 375°F convection. Place a sheet pan in the oven to pre-heat it.
2. In a large bowl, stir together plum and hoisin sauce. Slice each chicken breast lengthwise into 5 or 6 even-sized strips for a total of 15 to 18 strips. Toss pieces in bowl to coat and marinate for 1 hour to overnight. Skewer with bamboo skewers.
3. In a medium bowl, add chopped nuts, ground coriander, salt and black pepper and blend well. Place 5 chicken skewers onto a clean plate and sprinkle with some of the pecan mixture and press firmly to coat all sides. Keep the extra nut crust from contacting the raw chicken by using one hand to sprinkle and the other to press on the chicken. Remove and place on a cold parchment-lined sheet pan, do not over crowd the pan, use two as needed. Continue coating all skewers. Lift or slide parchment and chicken skewers onto the HEATED sheet pan, carefully adjust skewers that slid around. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve warm or room temperature with blueberry salsa.

Note: If serving chicken to small children, eliminate skewers and make pecan chicken strips. This is also great for pounded chicken breasts or fish, coat with the marinade above or Dijon mustard, press top side into nut mixture and cook according to the same directions until chicken or fish is cooked through.

For the Salsa:
1. Rinse blueberries, remove any remaining stems, drain and pat dry with clean paper towels. Place in medium bowl or in a zip lock bag.
2. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, mint and half of the lime juice into the bowl or the bag. Stir together, crushing half of the berries with the back of a fork or crush berries in the bag by squeezing the bag. Season with salt and pepper and taste. Add additional lime juice, salt, pepper or herbs and a little sugar as needed.
3. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until needed.