Recently, I was gifted a large freezer-bag full of walnuts. Delicious too, all on their own.

But there are only so many fists full of walnuts anyone can eat at one sitting. And I got to thinking, how else could I use them, given the provisions I have on board? I didn’t want to make a sweet pie and, besides, I didn’t have any flour.

So I settled on walnut-encrusted chicken thighs. And not bad, at all. Subtle walnut flavor and a great crunch:

• Three hands full of walnuts, ground using a mortar and pestle.
• Breadcrumbs equal in volume to the ground walnuts.
• Grated parmesan Reggiano equal to one half the volume of the ground walnuts
• Salt, red-pepper flakes and chopped fresh sage (I had it handy, so why not)
• Four bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Egg bath: Three medium eggs, two splashes of milk and two squirts of Sriracha.

I was concerned that the ground walnuts would not hold onto the chicken while cooking, which is why I added the breadcrumbs and cheese to the coating.

I fried skin side down, over a medium flame in about a quarter-inch of olive oil, flipping when the crust had browned and moved freely in the pan. Once the second side was ready, I flipped again, turned the flame to low and covered while allowing the moisture to escape. When the interior temperature reached 165 degrees F, I removed and let rest for five minutes.

Served with a baked potato with sour cream and scallions, and some old-carrots I found.