Kellogg's Crusted Baked Chicken with Pomegranate Reduction and Apricot Raisin Couscous

8.24.10

August is almost over. I'm excited because there are many exciting trips to look forward to. First, I'm going to San Francisco for our first anniversary, Hawaii for a wedding in October, Europe for sort of "honeymoon", and Thailand for my little sister's wedding. However, some trips are too short. I wish I could have more vacation days to spend. **Sigh**

Are you traveling anywhere sometime soon?

I'm sure some of you have received samples from Kellogg's. With their generosity along with FoodBuzz, I have received 2 flavors to try. They are high in fiber and antioxidants. My husband is more excited than I am. He opened the boxes and ate them with milk the next day. He so enjoyed it that I had to stop him and ask him to leave some for me. I was also fortunate to receive a sample of couscous from Near East. They're promoting an around the world in 5 mins theme. Check out their recipes in detail here. It's fast, simple, yet flavorful in only 5 mins!  I incorporated the couscous in this recipe which took more than 5mins for the whole recipe not surprisingly. Good news is cooking couscous still takes only 5 mins.

I, of course, would like to use all of the wonderful samples I received. They can be cooked in so many ways. This is just one of the hundred ways to utilize. I brine chicken breasts with salt, sugar, water, rosemary, and juniper berries for 4 hours. You shouldn't brine the chicken more than 6 hours otherwise it will get too salty. Berry yogurt crunch cornflakes from Kellogg's mixed with flour worked out well for crusting. It gives you sweet, crispy, and berry-like flavor with aromatic tender chicken. Rosemary and juniper berries give an interesting flavor and scent to the chicken.

I haven't even mentioned the savory apricot raisin red wine reduction and Mediterranean couscous style; I'm getting hungry as I'm blogging.  Plain flavor couscous is a great way to add many flavors to it. Dried apricot, raisin, and minced parsley add great finish to the meal as well.

Thank you Kellogg's and Near East for great products!

Berry Yogurt Cereal Crusted Baked Chicken with Pomegranate Reduction, and Mediterranean Couscous
Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Brine:
2 chicken breasts or 4 medium size
1/8 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tbs juniper berries
1 sprig fresh rosemary

Directions:

• Mix everything a bowl. Whisk until sugar and salt dissolve.
• Marinade chicken for 4 hrs. in a fridge. Do NOT marinade more than 6 hrs.

Berry yogurt crunch crust:

1 cup Kellogg's berry yogurt crunch

1/4 cup AP flour

1 egg

Cooking Spray

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 F
• Add Kellogg's and flour into a food processor. Pulse 5 times or until Kellogg's coarsely chopped
• Beat an egg in a bowl
• Dip chicken in a beaten egg, then crust.
• After you're done with  4 chicken, spray all over the crusted chicken both sides.
• Bake for 45 mins.

Note: There's a few ways to do it. Some dip chicken into an AP flour first, then egg, and finish with cereal crust. It's your choice of preference.

Pomegranate Reduction:

1 cup pomegranate juice

3 tbs sugar

1/2 cup white wine

1 tbs raisin

2 tbs chopped dried apricot
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:

• Heat up a small sauce pan. Add juice and bring it to boil.
• Add wine, sugar, raisin, and apricot. 
• Simmer it until it's reduced by half or about 15-20 mins or so.

Couscous:

1 cup couscous plain flavor

1+1/3 cups chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

3 tsp olive oil

1/4 full cup chopped dried apricot

1/4 full cup golden raisins

2 full tbs or more minced parsley

Directions:

• Heat up a medium saucepan. Add stock, salt, and butter. Bring it just to a boil.
• Add couscous. Lid on. Turn off the heat and remove the saucepan from the heat.
• Let it sit for 5 mins with the lid on.
• Use a fork to lightly fluff couscous.
• Add apricot, raisins, and minced parsley.
• Or you can follow the package instructions.

To plate:

• Place couscous first, then place chicken on top.  Pour some of the sauce on the chicken.
• Enjoy!