Sun-dried Tomato Crusted Chicken

I probably own about 50 cookbooks.. I know, I know.. just the tip of the iceberg for many of you! heehee But what I've realized of late is that when I feel like making something new and delish - I rarely crack one open. Instead I go to my Cruisine at Home magazines. I can't tell you how much I love this cooking magazine. Not only does it contain many yummy looking recipes, but it gives kitchen tips that are actually useful to the home cook and good advice on buying appliances, again that the average home cook uses. The look of the magazine is certainly on the "upscale" side, but the contents are neither pretentious nor are the recipes hard to follow. In fact, they are extremely easy to follow with a lot of ingredients already in my pantry or not hard to find at my local grocery store. I believe I've made 4 recipes now from these magazines and not one has been a loser. I've picked three new ones that I'm going to attempt this week - assuming that my 8 in the dungeon doesn't leave me half dead when I get home at night =) The first recipe is Sun-dried Tomato Crusted Chicken. I'm a big fan of boneless, skinless chicken breasts - as long as they are marinated. I'm one to get a little nervous about dry chicken breasts even though I know that the boneless, skinless variety is hard to render dry - unless over cooked.. but still, I will not make them unless I find a fabulous marinade. Which brings me to my trepidation of trying this recipe. Although it looked and sounded absolutely yummy (Lurrvvve sun-dried tomatoes!) there was no marinating in the recipe. But I talked myself into giving it a try anyway. Wow! My new favorite recipe for chicken breasts! I'm so throwing out those marinades!! teeeee! The chicken was so incredibly juicy and tender.. and the flavor of the crust was outstanding. Another downer was the bread crumbs in the crust.. not a huge fan of that kind of breading.. but the sun-dried tomatoes worked so well with the crumbs plus it was practically effortless in the making. Their suggestions for sides were steamed asparagus and a feta couscous. I went with the asparagus because I love it but I opted for rice cooked in chicken stock and flavored with butter and parmesan. Delish! I had this all done in about 40 minutes - bonus! Sun-Dried Tomato Crusted Chicken 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 oz. each) 1 tsp. black pepper 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 2 c. bread crumbs 1/2 c. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, sliced 4 large garlic cloves, peeled 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 2 eggs 2 TBS. water 2 TBS. olive oil Preheat oven to 375º F. Prepare breast halves by trimming fat. Slice each breast in half lengthwise; pound to 1/2" thick. Season with pepper and salt. Pulse bread crumbs, tomatoes and garlic in a food processor. Transfer to a shallow dish. Place flour in a second shallow dish. Blend eggs and water with a fork in a third shallow dish. Dredge both sides of chicken in flour, then dip into egg mixture to coat. Transfer chicken to crumb mixture and pat onto both sides; place on a baking sheet or plate. Heat oil in an ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute chicken 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Carefully flip chicken, then place pan in oven. Roast 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. Rest 5 minutes before serving. I did not to make the following sauce that was suggested to go with the chicken - because I'm a dork and didn't notice the recipe on the second page - duh! Next time though, I will try this as it sounds wonderful. Sunny Butter Sauce 1 c. dry white wine 2 TBS. capers, crushed 2 TBS. fresh lemon juice 1/2 c. cold unsalted butter, thinly sliced 1/4 c. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, sliced 1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped Boil wine in a skillet until reduced by half. Add capers and lemon juice; boil 1 min. Reduce heat to low. Whisk in butter one piece at a time, stirring constantly. As each melts, add another. Stir in tomatoes and parsley. My only notes are that I halved the recipe because it's still just me *sigh* and I didn't have the oil packed tomatoes, I had the dry kind - and they worked beautifully. When halving the recipe it still makes way, way too much of the crumb mixture for 1 chicken breast sliced in half. I ended up throwing a lot away.