maple mustard glazed chicken.

Sunday night, after a successful First Pizza Making experience thanks to Tina’s instructions, I decided to get Full Time Fancy for supper. I had long ago bookmarked Giada’s Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs in one of her cookbooks, and rediscovered it on pinterest. It looked right up our alley.  Y’all, this was work. It took forever to make all those little meatballs, and then to fry them all and by the time we sat down for supper, I was determined this was going to be the greatest supper ever. And it was… mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t bowl me over — and it certainly wasn’t worth all the effort.

but it looks so pretty!

It wasn’t until last night, when I went to the cheese drawer to get the blue cheese that I realized I neglected to add the mini mozzarella balls to the pasta before serving. That likely would have made a difference, albeit not a striking one.

Anyway, I was hoping for a more exciting supper Monday evening and we sure as heck got it. Cooking Light does a bunch of new chicken recipes in their January issues, and I always look forward to finding new ways to prepare our supper staple. I marked several to try, and the first was this Maple Mustard Chicken. Matt declared it one of the best tasting chicken recipes he’d ever had and requested I add it to the rotation.

For as quick and easy (and mostly healthy) as it is, this is duly noted!

Maple- Mustard Glazed Chicken
via Cooking Light, January 2012

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt. Add chicken to pan; sauté 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Add broth, syrup, thyme, and garlic to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add vinegar and mustard; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan, and spoon mustard mixture over chicken. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 5 minutes. Place pan over medium heat; cook mustard mixture 2 minutes or until liquid is syrupy, stirring frequently. Serve with chicken.

I’m already looking forward to the leftover chicken served over my 2012 salad for lunch today,
jcristg

Advertisement