Crispy Cheesy Tortilla Chip Pan Fried Chicken

Great flavor, easy to make, and a nice twist on fried chicken that uses every day grocery store ingredients. Serve with Sarasota's Spicy Simple Black Beans that you can "jazz" up any way you want; and yellow rice for a quick easy dinner. This is also great served with a side salad and fresh fruit for something a bit lighter, or a tangy coleslaw.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 4 chicken breasts

Ingredients

• Chicken

• 4  boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 8  tablespoons  shredded monterey jack pepper cheese (2 per chicken breast)
• 16  ounces  plain tortilla chips (crushed fine in the food processor)
• 2⁄3 cup flour
• 3⁄4 cup salsa, use your favorite, but a smooth salsa, not the chunky kind, a picante sauce also works
• 2  eggs, well beaten
•  olive oil (to saute the chicken)
•  salt
•  pepper

• Sauce

• 2  avocados, rough chopped
• 2  tablespoons  fresh jalapenos, fine diced ribs and seeds removed
• 1  cup sour cream (don't use low fat)
• 1⁄4 cup milk (more if you prefer the sauce a bit thinner)
• 1⁄3 lime juice
• 2  tablespoons fresh cilantro, fine chopped
•  salt
•  pepper

Directions

1. Sauce -- Make the avocado sauce ahead of time and set in the refrigerator to chill. I like to use my mini food processor for this, or a blender will work fine. Add the avocado, milk, lime juice, sour cream, jalapeno and cilantro. Blend until smooth. Check for seasoning salt and pepper and adjust as needed. Remove to a small bowl and cover and chill until ready to serve. This sauce is serve cold.
2. Chicken -- Remove to the counter, along with the salsa and eggs. You want them to be room temp or at least have the chill taken off them.
3. Tortilla Chips -- Add the tortillas to the food processor and grind until fine chopped. The finer chopped the easier it is. A rough chop or hand chop will not work.
4. Dredging Stations -- 1: Flour, salt and pepper. 2: Eggs, lightly beaten mixed with salsa. 3: Ground tortilla chips.
5. Cheese -- Cut a thin slice about 1/2 of the way through one side of the chicken breast (making a pocket) as you will be stuffing it with the cheese. Make sure not to cut all the way through to the other side. But make a nice slice so you can stuff it with a fair amount of cheese. About 2 tablespoons per chicken breast. Stuff the chicken breast and secure with a single toothpick.
6. Chicken -- Dredge the chicken in the flour and make sure to shake off any extra. Next, dip in the egg and salsa mix and last into the tortilla chips.
7. Saute -- In a large NON STICK pan (I prefer non stick for this, but one that is oven proof) and heat to medium high heat. Add enough oil to just lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Saute on each side until golden brown. I transfer the pan (if oven proof) to the oven, if not, transfer to a pie plate and finish cooking in a 400 degree oven until the juices run clear. Approximately 10 minutes. It really depends on the thickness of your chicken.
8. Serve -- Garnish the chicken with the avocado sauce, some beans, rice, anything you want. The avocado sauce is really good with this. Even serve this over some crisp romaine, onion and black beans and use the avocado sauce as the dressing. You can really serve it lots of way.
9. ENJOY!