December Chives

I was walking around my yard last week and I was quite surprised to see green chives still growing in my garden.  I was so excited about my discovery that I decided to make Lemon Chive Chicken before all my chives get killed by a frost.  The deer have done a good job of keeping them pruned back this year but I still had enough chives to cut and use in my dinner.

 
Lemon Chive Chicken
           recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Sauce                                                           Chicken
1 medium shallot, minced                       4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon flour                                         2 teaspoons salt
1 cup chicken broth                                   1 Tablespoon oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice                        2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, minced        1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon butter                                  1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and pepper                                          1/2 teaspoon pepper

Use fork to poke chicken breasts 5-6 times.  Sprinkle each breast with salt.  Place chicken on a foil lined baking sheet and bake 30-40 minutes at 275.

While chicken cooks, prepare sauce ingredients.

Whisk together butter, flour, cornstarch and pepper.

Remove chicken from the oven and dry on paper towels.  Brush tops of chicken with 1/2 of the butter mixture.

Heat oil in skillet and place chicken skin coated side down.

Brush tops of chicken remaining butter mixture.  Flip chicken once browned and brown other side.

Remove chicken.  Add shallot to skillet and cook 2 minutes.

Add flour and cook 30 seconds.  Add broth and bring to a simmer.

Reduce to 3/4 cup.  Stir in any accumulated juices from chicken.

Remove from heat, whisk in lemon juice, chives and butter.  Season with salt and pepper.

Serve chicken with pan sauce.

I served my chicken with a side of Simply Potatoes.  I received two free bags of Simply Potatoes as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program.

The potatoes really were simple to make.  I followed the cooking instructions on the bag and poured the diced potatoes and onions into an oiled skillet.  (I added some diced ham which wasn't in the original recipe.)  I cooked the potatoes for about 10 minutes.  It was a nice easy side dish for my chicken.

 

I love this oven to skillet method of cooking chicken.  It never fails to produce really tender and juicy chicken breasts.  I use it for all different kinds of recipes.  This might just be the perfect meal for a cold December night.   

Bon Appetit!