Baked Boneless Chicken Breast with Pomegranate Sauce

After I made the second new members Shabbat dinner for Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El back in December for 100 people, I was volunteered by my cheerful and efficient team of kitchen helpers to assist with a scholar-in-residence program taking place next weekend. It is billed as “Tunes and Tales from the Cradle of Civilization,” a Shabbaton exploring Jewish Sephardic heritage, culture and music through worship, personal stories and film. Our two guest scholars are Cantor Robert Micha’el Esformes and Tamara Rubin.

I knew this would not be a great time for me. My mother, who is at home on a hospice program, seems to be deteriorating more rapidly now, after eight months on the program, and my daughter is seven centimeters dilated and about to give birth at any moment. Keeping busy at home, especially cooking and cleaning, helps me keep my sanity. Since this is a Sephardic-themed weekend, I decided to modify some of my recipes for a crowd after doing some research on the Net. The original recipes called for a ground walnut coating on the chicken, and, if I wasn’t making this for 100 on a budget, I would probably skip the Shake and Bake and use that. This past Friday, I tried these modified recipes out on family and friends who joined us for dinner. This recipe was declared a winner, and hopefully, I will be present next Friday to prepare yet another dinner for 100 with my intrepid friends, Jerry, Betty, and Natalie, who seem to enjoy this sort of exercise as much as I.

Baked Boneless Chicken Breast with Pomegranate Sauce

• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 Tbsp. onion, finely minced
• 2 tsp. elephant garlic, finely minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, finely minced
• Kraft Shake and Bake Original Chicken
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 8 boneless chicken breast cutlets

Combine pomegranate juice, white wine, honey, lemon juice, onion, garlic and mint in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to glaze consistency.

Meanwhile, in plastic bag from Shake and Bake, place the coating mix and add coriander, cumin, and allspice. Drop in chicken breast cutlets one-by-one and shake to coat. Place in single layer on baking sheet and bake at 350°F. for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven. (May be wrapped and frozen at this point, if desired.)

Top the cutlets with pomegranate glaze and return to oven for 10 to 20 minutes more. Serves 8.