chicken

So far, we've tried whole chickens two ways: smeared with olive oil and herbs, stuffed with lemon, and roasted in a Dutch oven placed inside a 450 degree oven; and braised in a Dutch oven with soy sauce and lemon juice. Both delicious, juicy, and simple. 

Tonight, I stumbled on a gold-mine recipe for chicken breast. I'd been canning all day, so I needed something not just simple but fast, and while Tim was out of town and I almost felt like dipping into our emergency store of Annie's mac 'n cheese, I resisted. 

The New York Times Cooking app came to my rescue. I didn't follow the recipe I chose exactly, because when do I ever, and I even used the last dregs of a very bad bottle of white wine—and still, I give it a rave review. 

First, you brown a flour-dredged chicken breast in butter with chopped rosemary and garlic. After cooking it just 4 minutes on each side, you add lemon juice and white wine, cover, and cook 3 minutes more. 

When it was done, I set it aside on a plate tented with tinfoil, poured off most of the pan sauce into a little bowl, and tossed diced zucchini, beans, and leek into the hot pan. Turned up the heat. In another 4 minutes or so, the pan sauce had coated the vegetables and then evaporated, and the vegetables were still slightly crunchy and just starting to brown, my favorite way. 

I piled the veggies next to the chicken, drizzled the sauce on top of the chicken, and headed out to the back patio to commune with the view and consume the feast. 

Chicken Breasts With Rosemary and Lemon

Adapted from this recipe by Pierre Franey, published here: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4689-chicken-breasts-with-rosemary-and-lemon

Serves 1

1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 

1 garlic clove, minced 

1/4 cup white wine

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 small leek, washed thoroughly and sliced thinly 

1 small zucchini, halved and then sliced thinly 

8 or so green beans 

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, pound the chicken breast to an even thickness. I think mine was about 1/2-inch thick in the end. Dredge it in the flour and season with salt and pepper on both sides. 

When the butter is just sort of browning a little, add the chicken. Scatter the rosemary and garlic on top and around the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes until the chicken is golden brown but not dark or crispy. Flip and do the same on the other side. 

Add the wine and lemon juice, cover, and cook for 3 or so more minutes until the chicken juices are no longer pink when you cut into it, but the chicken is still very moist and tender. 

Set the chicken aside on a plate, cover with foil, and set a kitchen towel on top to keep it hot. Pour off most of the pan sauce into a small bowl, reserving erough to just barely cover the bottom of the pan. 

Add the leek, zucchini, and beans and turn the heat up just slightly. Sauté, stirring often, until the pan sauce has evaporated and the vegetables are just barely browning, but definitely not limp yet (or, okay, if you're my husband, sauté until they're not crunchy anymore and very brown!). Four minutes max, I say!

Serve the vegetables next to the chicken. Drizzle the rest of the pan sauce on top of the chicken.