Garlic-Pistachio-Crusted Chicken and Stuffed Mushrooms

This meal came about because I hadn't yet eaten enough of the garlic pistachios that had been sitting around the kitchen. "Hey, we have some chicken, too!" And thus one of my best meals came about. And there was much rejoicing. The chicken was nice and garlicky, the marinade was great and it turned out quite tender. The mushrooms were quite savory as well. I fully recommend this meal to anyone willing to put a little bit of work into making a fine meal.

This fed five people, with a salad on the side, for about $30!

First, I cut everything up, then decided when and where to put it all. So, I prepared all of these in separate bowls before throwing them together:

 1 cup (I used less but it wasn't enough) of shelled garlic pistachios. Normal flavor will work too.

 1/2 onion very finely chopped

 6 cloves garlic also very finely chopped

 1 shallot also also very finely chopped

~1 cup grated cheese. I used TJ's English cheddar with carmelized onions, as well as Spanish manchego which is good for non-dairy cooking.

~5 chicken thighs (one package from TJ's)
12 stuffing portabello mushrooms, with insides scooped out with a spoon. Put the shrooms in a greased Pyrex baking dish and the insides into another bowl, to stuff with.

Blend the pistachios to a fine crumble, then take out and set aside a small amount, maybe 1/4 cup, to sprinkle the chicken with. Then, add into the blender either toasted bread, or Ritz crackers, or something of the sort to make breadcrumbs for the chicken. Because I was cooking for a gluten-free eater, I used Glutino gluten free crackers, which worked perfectly. Use about equal amounts pistachios and cracker crumbs.

Then, whisk together a marinade/dipping sauce for the chicken:

 2 tsp dijon mustard

~4 tbsp soy sauce

~6 tbsp olive oil

 1 tsp garlic-chili sauce if you want some spicy in the chicken (1 tsp had very little spiciness)

 Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, tiny pinch of cumin.

 Add just a splash of water because it's so thick. Whisk well.

Hokay so, first preheat the oven to 425 (I used convection bake, so if you're just doing regular bake do 450 maybe?). Put aside a small amount of the onions and garlic for the chicken frying. Then start the onions, garlic, and shallots in a pan, like this. This is going to be the stuffing for the mushrooms.

Once the onions have carmelized and the wine has soaked in, add the mushroom innards, and cook that down a good amount. Just put it on low until you need to use it.

Add cheese just a minute before you stuff the mushrooms, so it melts but doesn't get all greasy like this kind of cheese tends to do.

While the onions and mushrooms are cooking down, put a large pan on high-ish heat. Add canola oil to coat the bottom thickly (for frying) and add the leftover onions and garlic. Then dip the chicken in the dipping marinade, shake it off because the marinade will be thick. Immediately dip in the pistachio/breadcrumb mix, then throw into the pan without splashing oil on yourself.

Only cook the chicken for less than a minute on each side, just to slightly cook the outside, then throw then all into another greased Pyrex. Sprinkle the leftover pistachios as well as some pepper on top, and toss it in the oven.

Put in the mushrooms at the same time, and cook them both for 20-25 minutes. I cut one of the chicken pieces in half after 20 minutes, saw it was slightly pink, so I put it in for another 5 minutes. Mushrooms came out after 25 minutes as well. I rotated both pans halfway through so it wouldn't be cooking lopsided.

Let the mushrooms sit for a minute or two to let the cheese emulsify, then COMMENCE SHOVELING!