Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil

This is an old standard in our family:  it's about as easy as they come and very flavorful.  It comes from Cooking Light's 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook.

Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil

4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1. Slice the chicken breasts in half, length-wise.  (If they're extra thick, you might want to slice them thickness-wise as well, just to make for more even cooking.)
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. 
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet at medium-high. 
4. Cook chicken for five minutes each side until lightly browned. 
5. While chicken is cooking, mix together the vinegar, honey, and basil
6. When chicken is ready, stir in the honey mixture and cook for one additional minute. 
7. Serve with rice, baby carrots, lime jell-o, and anything else your kids like.  

Family Ratings

Will, who has a habit of picking up a large chunk of meat and eating it off his fork, like the Asians do with chopsticks:  10

Lucy, who could probably already make this herself:  10

Jamie, who actually finishes it before we have to tell him to:  10

Ellen, who comes from the midwest and likes minimalist, fresh flavorings:  10

Paul, who's had this about 600 times in the last 17 years and is mildly sick of it:  9

Rosemary Citrus Chicken

One of the great things about living in southwestern-ish Virginia is that we have access to the Roanoke Times, one of the last great independent small-city papers. The food editor for the Times is a former student of mine, if by student we mean someone who was at the college when I was a teacher there, who knew me by name and vice-versa, and who was gracious enough to laugh at my stupid jokes. Anyhow, at the back of the Extra section of the Sunday Roanoke Times there's always a weekly meal planner, coaching people how to get through the week without killing themselves or eating Stouffer's for three nights. I'm not sure if Lindsey is in charge of that section or not, but every week there's something great in it. That's where this recipe comes from.

One note: I've lowered the cooking times here slightly, because I tend to use local organic chicken which means the breast pieces are smaller. Seriously, if you haven't yet switched to local meats, you really should. I say this not because I'm a food Nazi (my affinity for Nacho Cheese Doritos automatically excludes me from that club), but because, damn man, it just tastes better. That and, frankly, it kind of scares me when I go to the grocery store and pick up a package of Tyson chicken breasts where the breasts are the size of dinner plates; that's just not normal and whatever they do to make the breasts that big very likely is somehow related to what it is the causes people to die fat and young in this country.

I'm just saying . . .

Anyhow, if you live in Lexington, Virginia, you need to go to Donald's Meats immediately. Fresh chicken arrives every Friday, and you can buy frozen breasts all week long. And guess what? It's cheaper than at the grocery store. To get there, just go down the road behind Taco Bell and drive a quarter mile until you see the sign on the right (how's that for small town Virginia directions?).

If you don't live in Lexington, find a local meat cutter and see if you can't get some real food from somewhere nearby. You won't regret it. Seriously, it's all about the taste.

Regardless, enjoy this recipe. It's easy and will please everyone.

Rosemary Citrus Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (more, if they're local and not filled with hormones)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp canola oil, divided

1/4 cup shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp butter

1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in large skillet on medium-high
3. Add chicken breasts and cook 2.5 minutes on each side; remove and set aside, covering with foil to keep warm
4. Add 1 tsp oil to skillet; add shallots and garlic and cook for one minute
5. Add juice and broth, bringing to simmer
6. Return chicken breasts to pan, reducing heat to low. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 3-4 minutes, longer, if breasts are large
7. Transfer chicken to a fresh, clean plate, leaving juices in the pan
8. Stir butter into pan, along with rosemary and vinegar; season with salt and pepper
9. Once the butter has melted, spoon sauce over the chicken and serve

Note: this goes well with the Sweet and Tart salad: http://nochickenpatties.blogspot.com/2011/11/sweet-tart-salad.html

Family Ratings:

Will, who will pick every single one of the tiny bits of shallot off the food: 10

Jamie, who loves chicken: 10

Lucy, who prefers her chicken with a head on it: 10

Ellen: 10

Paul: 10

Chicken Fajitas

Years ago when I first started cooking, my mother cleaned out her cupboards and gave me all of the cookbooks she never used. One of them was a church book from western Pennsylvania, one of those collections where everyone throws in their favorite recipes. Hidden amongst the tater-tot salads and the slow cooker pot roasts was a recipe for chicken fajitas. I love that: 1963, steel country PA, and someone's cooking chicken friggin' fajitas. And guess what? They're awesome.

A few tips:

• I use kitchen scissors to cut up the chicken. Buy yourself a good pair: Chicago Cutlery, or Wusthof, one of those brands. My friend Eileen gave me a set of these 20 years ago when I got married, and they're still going strong. So's the marriage, which may be unrelated. But then again, maybe not . . .
• Grate your own cheese. That pre-grated stuff from the grocery store will ruin any dish, especially if the cheese is uncooked, as it is here.
• I use six- or eight-inch tortillas, and I warm them up in the microwave wrapped in paper towel, just to keep life easy.
• Cook the onions separately. That way you can use tons of hot peppers and not have to worry about taking the kids to the emergency room.
• Let the kids make their own fajitas. A little control goes a long way.

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Marinade:

1/4 cup lime juice (the store bought stuff will do just fine)

2 Tb soy sauce

2 Tb Worcheshire sauce

1.5 teaspoons ground cumin

2 TB olive oil

1-1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast

10 Tortillas

1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese

2 small tomatoes, diced

2 cups chopped lettuce

1 onion, sliced

Sour Cream

1. Mix together the marinade.
2. Cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces and toss them in the marinade. Let sit.
3. Chop the tomatoes and the lettuce, grate the cheese and slice (don't chop!) the onions. Wrap the tortillas in paper towel, but don't put them in the microwave, yet. By the time you're done with all of this, the chicken should have marinated long enough.
4. In a small saute pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, and toss in the onions, plus 1-2 tablespoons of dried red pepper flakes. Saute as you're cooking the chicken (below).
5. Heat up a wok or a large frying pan. (Because there's oil in the marinade, I don't use any here, but you might have to if the chicken seems to stick.)
6. Using a slotted spoon, put the chicken in the pan and cook on high or medium-high.
7. Pour most of the run-off juices from the chicken pan into the onion pan so that they can soak up the flavor. If there isn't any juice, use some of the left-over marinade.
8. Add more hot pepper flakes to the onions.
9. Put your tortillas in the microwave; cook for 1-1.5 minutes.
10. Stir-fry the chicken for five or so minutes, until it's done, but not over-done. (Don't be afraid to pour more juices into the onions. You're not making a stew here, and the onions will only get tastier and tastier. )
11. Add more hot pepper flakes to the onions. Give them another good stir, then turn off the heat.
12. Set everything (including the sour cream) up on the table in separate dishes and let everyone make their own, using their own proportions and omitting whatever they choose.

Family Ratings, on a scale of 1-10:

Will, who generally hates everything: 10

Lucy, who's loathe to like her brother's favorite food: 7

Jamie, who really digs sour cream: 10

Paul, who usually adds still more red pepper flakes to the onions: 10