Albania: Gjellë Me Arra (Chicken With Walnuts)

This recipe is from week four of my food blog, "Travel by Stove." I am attempting to cook one meal from every country on Earth, and Albania is my fourth stop. This is actually a very simple recipe consisting of chicken with a thick walnut sauce. You can cook the breasts whole or dice them first.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons flour
• 12  shelled walnuts, crushed to a powder
• 2  egg yolks, beaten
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 6  chicken breasts
• 1⁄2 cup  chicken stock, more if needed

Directions

1. Cook the chicken breasts in olive oil until they are done.
2. When the chicken is done (I use a meat thermometer to make sure), take it out of the pan and add the flour. Keep stirring until brown (don't overcook!), then add half of the butter, garlic, walnuts and egg yolks. Continue to stir--you don't want the yolks to solidify.
3. If your recipe turns out like mine did, you will end up with a kind of lump of walnuts. Although the original recipe did not call for chicken stock, I found I had to add some just to get it to a sauce-like consistency. Just use as much as it takes to make the sauce smooth -- more if you like a watery sauce. When it's ready, remove from the heat and add the chicken, stirring to coat.