11 Sep PRIZEWINNING CHICKEN RECIPE

Prize-winning chicken recipe

I’m such a sucker for the cookbooks and special issue cooking magazines that are “best 10 recipes..” or “1 pot dinners”. So you can understand that resistance was futile when I came across the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book “Prizewinning Recipes”. I always like to test drive a cookbook by starting with chicken dishes:

Ingredients

½ cup balsamic vinegar (not the aged stuff – regular will do)

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

¼ cup butter

2 medium pears, cored and sliced

1/3 cup sliced leek (about ¾ of one leek stalk)

½ cup apple juice

½ cup whipping cream

TIP 1

Yummm Buuuddah. If you have never cooked with butter YOU ARE MISSING OUT! Throw out your notions of butter being bad – it’s all good, very good and very tasty. The only tip here is to allow the butter to melt in the pan first but not let it brown. Cooking with butter will cause splatter so this is not a child friendly part of the recipe.

1. In a small saucepan stir together balsamic vinegar and sugar. Bring to boiling; reducing heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. The sauce will thicken by the time you finish the rest of this recipe.
2. In a shallow dish stir together flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken into flour mixture to coat, shaking off excess flour. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning brown evenly. Remove chicken from skillet; cover and keep warm.

Butter is good! Go for taste!

3. For sauce, add pear and leek to skillet. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in apple juice and whipping cream. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 to 7 minutes or until slightly thickened.
   

   Pears and leeks will brown nicely

4. Serve! You can serve this chicken over mashed potatoes or any other starch or plain with a side of greens. Spoon sauce over chicken (be generous and get pears and leeks in there as well). Drizzle balsamic vinegar mixture over all.
   

   Enjoy Prizewinning Chicken!